disscussion.md

The Benchmark

Each framework is asked to serialize a list of 2 objects a 1000 times, and then 1 object a 1000 times.

This is the current object that is being serialized.

class ChildTestObject(object):
    def __init__(self, multiplier=None):
        self.w = 1000 * multiplier if multiplier else 100
        self.x = 20 * multiplier if multiplier else 20
        self.y = 'hello' * multiplier if multiplier else 'hello'
        self.z = 10 * multiplier if multiplier else 10


class ParentTestObject(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self.foo = 'bar'
        self.sub = ChildTestObject()
        self.subs = [ChildTestObject(i) for i in xrange(10)]

    def bar(self):
        return 5

benchmark_object = ParentTestObject()

Discussion

Serialization from python objects to JSON, XML, or other transmission formats is a common task for many web related projects. In order to fill that need a number of frameworks have arised. While their aims are similar, they don't all share the same attributes. Here are how some of the features comapre.

Project	Serialization	Encoding	Deserialization	Validation
Django REST Framework	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
serpy	Yes	No	No	No
Marshmallow	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lollipop	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Strainer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Kim	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
serpyco	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Toasted Marshmallow	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Colander	Yes	No	Yes<	Yes
Lima	Yes	No	No	No
Avro	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

• Serialization: Does the framework provide a way of serializing python objects to simple datastructures
• Encoding: Does the framework provide a way of encoding data into a wire format
• Deserialization: Does the framework provide a way of deserializing simple data structures into complex data structures
• Validation: Does the framework provide a way of validating datastructures, and reprorting error conditions
• Part of Framework: Is serialization apart of a larger framework