**Course Title:** Mastering C#: From Fundamentals to Advanced Programming **Section Title:** File I/O and Serialization **Topic:** Create a C# program to read, write, and serialize data to and from files.(Lab topic) **Overview:** In this lab, we will explore how to read, write, and serialize data to and from files using C#. We will use various classes and methods from the `System.IO` namespace to achieve this. This topic is crucial for understanding data storage and retrieval in C#. **Step 1: Reading from a Text File** We will use the `StreamReader` class to read from a text file. Here is a simple example: ```csharp using System; using System.IO; public class ReadTextFile { public static void Main() { string filePath = "example.txt"; // Replace with your file path try { using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(filePath)) { string text = reader.ReadToEnd(); Console.WriteLine(text); } } catch (FileNotFoundException) { Console.WriteLine("File not found."); } catch (Exception ex) { Console.WriteLine("An error occurred: " + ex.Message); } } } ``` This code reads the content of a text file and prints it to the console. Note the use of try-catch blocks to handle potential exceptions. **Step 2: Writing to a Text File** We will use the `StreamWriter` class to write to a text file. Here is a simple example: ```csharp using System; using System.IO; public class WriteTextFile { public static void Main() { string filePath = "example.txt"; // Replace with your file path string text = "Hello, World!"; try { using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(filePath)) { writer.Write(text); } Console.WriteLine("Text written to file successfully."); } catch (Exception ex) { Console.WriteLine("An error occurred: " + ex.Message); } } } ``` This code writes a string to a text file. **Step 3: Serializing Data to a JSON File** We will use the `JsonSerializer` class from the `System.Text.Json` namespace to serialize data to a JSON file. Here is a simple example: ```csharp using System; using System.IO; using System.Text.Json; public class SerializeToJson { public class Person { public string Name { get; set; } public int Age { get; set; } } public static void Main() { string filePath = "example.json"; // Replace with your file path Person person = new Person { Name = "John Doe", Age = 30 }; try { string jsonString = JsonSerializer.Serialize(person); File.WriteAllText(filePath, jsonString); Console.WriteLine("Data serialized to JSON file successfully."); } catch (Exception ex) { Console.WriteLine("An error occurred: " + ex.Message); } } } ``` This code serializes a `Person` object to a JSON file. **Step 4: Deserializing Data from a JSON File** We will use the `JsonSerializer` class from the `System.Text.Json` namespace to deserialize data from a JSON file. Here is a simple example: ```csharp using System; using System.IO; using System.Text.Json; public class DeserializeFromJson { public class Person { public string Name { get; set; } public int Age { get; set; } } public static void Main() { string filePath = "example.json"; // Replace with your file path try { string jsonString = File.ReadAllText(filePath); Person person = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Person>(jsonString); Console.WriteLine($"Name: {person.Name}, Age: {person.Age}"); } catch (FileNotFoundException) { Console.WriteLine("File not found."); } catch (Exception ex) { Console.WriteLine("An error occurred: " + ex.Message); } } } ``` This code deserializes a JSON file to a `Person` object. **Conclusion:** In this lab, we learned how to read, write, and serialize data to and from files using C#. This topic is essential for data storage and retrieval in C#. We also learned how to handle exceptions that may occur during these operations. **Recommendations:** * Use try-catch blocks to handle exceptions that may occur during file operations. * Always close file streams after use to prevent resource leaks. * Use the `System.Text.Json` namespace for JSON serialization and deserialization. **External Resources:** * [System.IO namespace documentation](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.io) * [System.Text.Json namespace documentation](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.text.json) **Do you have any questions or need help with this topic? Please leave a comment or ask for help**