The client communicates with the server over various communication protocols (e.g. HTTP for REST API, gRPC, WebSocket etc.). Serialization and Deserialization are the processes of transmitting and deconstructing data in such common format so the client and server both can understand and manage it, regardless the language or framework they use.

The process of Serialization and Deserialization of data makes it language or domain agnostic.

For example, suppose the frontend is written in JavaScript and the backend in Rust. These two languages differ significantly in terms of data types and memory management — JavaScript is loosely typed and interpreted, while Rust is strictly typed and compiled.

When the frontend needs to send data to the server, it must first serialize that data into a standard format (such as JSON). The backend then deserializes the received data into its own native structures, processes it, applies business logic, possibly stores it, and finally sends back a serialized response to the client.

This entire cycle ensures that both sides can communicate effectively while maintaining data integrity and consistency across different languages and environments.

The most used Serialization/Deserialization standard is JSON

Others include XML, YAML. These are called as text based serialization.

Another serialization/deserialization format is Binary format. Example of binary format based serialization/deserialization is Protobuf (Protocol Buffer, developed by Google), Avro by Apache