Makes types in the System.Numerics namespace serializable

[zdirtywork]

Make types in the System.Numerics namespace serializable.

Currently, Vector2/3/4, Quaternion, etc. do not have the SerializableAttribute.

In order to serialize these data, we have to redefine their equivalent types and frequently convert objects between the two types.

[TahirAhmadov]

I think this should be requested at https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/issues/

[koszeggy]

The runtime stopped making new types serializable because of the obsoletion of BinaryFormatter.

As an alternative you can use 3rd party libraries. For example, this serializer from this library (disclaimer: written by me) supports the mentioned types from the System.Numerics namespace natively [NuGet].

[tannergooding]

Noting that most forms of binary serialization, especially if they are modeled similarly to BinaryFormatter, need to be very carefully considered with the same kind of warning/contexts given in: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/serialization/binaryformatter-security-guide

The BinaryFormatter type is dangerous and is not recommended for data processing. Applications should stop using BinaryFormatter as soon as possible, even if they believe the data they're processing to be trustworthy. BinaryFormatter is insecure and can't be made secure.

Serializers like XmlSerializer and System.Text.Json are the preferred approach and can already handle these types. BinaryReader/Writer can be an alternative and can be used to serialize the individual float fields of these types, but it still needs to be handled with care.

[koszeggy]

@tannergooding: as you posted this as a reply to my comment I feel myself addressed. Though in my comment I didn't elaborate what "supports natively" means (as opposed to IFormatter-like recursive serialization with polymorphism and auto type resolving) if you follow the posted link you should immediately see the huge red Security Note box about how the serializer addresses the issues that BinaryFormatter suffers from.

Noting that most forms of binary serialization [...] need to be very carefully considered. [...] Serializers like XmlSerializer and System.Text.Json are the preferred approach.

Though I'm not contradicting what you are saying, still, it can be misinterpreted easily, supporting the common (mis)understanding that in general binary serialization is dangerous whereas JSON/XML serialization is safe.

Which is simply not true. For example ProtoBuf (binary) is safe because it's not polymorphic and supports only a small set of predefined types, whereas JSON.NET (textual) supports polymorphism and it can be a risk if you allow resolving the $type elements automatically (again, you didn't say it otherwise, I'm just completing your comment).