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Quick Start

Get started with ToonNet in 5 minutes. This guide will walk you through your first TOON serialization.

Step 1: Install ToonNet​

dotnet add package ToonNet.Core

Step 2: Create a Model​

Create a simple C# class:

public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public string Email { get; set; }
}

Step 3: Serialize to TOON​

Use ToonSerializer to convert your object to TOON format:

using ToonNet.Core;

var person = new Person
{
    Name = "Alice Smith",
    Age = 30,
    Email = "alice@example.com"
};

string toonString = ToonSerializer.Serialize(person);
Console.WriteLine(toonString);

Output:

Name: Alice Smith
Age: 30
Email: alice@example.com

Step 4: Deserialize from TOON​

Convert the TOON string back to your object:

string toonInput = """
Name: Bob Johnson
Age: 25
Email: bob@example.com
""";

Person restoredPerson = ToonSerializer.Deserialize<Person>(toonInput);

Console.WriteLine($"{restoredPerson.Name} is {restoredPerson.Age} years old");
// Output: Bob Johnson is 25 years old

Complete Example​

Here's a complete working example:

using ToonNet.Core;

// Define your model
public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public string Email { get; set; }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Create an object
        var person = new Person
        {
            Name = "Alice Smith",
            Age = 30,
            Email = "alice@example.com"
        };

        // Serialize to TOON
        string toon = ToonSerializer.Serialize(person);
        Console.WriteLine("Serialized:");
        Console.WriteLine(toon);

        // Deserialize back to object
        var restored = ToonSerializer.Deserialize<Person>(toon);
        Console.WriteLine($"\nDeserialized: {restored.Name}, {restored.Age}");
    }
}

TOON vs JSON Comparison​

For the same data, compare the output formats:

TOON Format (73 characters):

Name: Alice Smith
Age: 30
Email: alice@example.com

JSON Format (97 characters):

{
  "Name": "Alice Smith",
  "Age": 30,
  "Email": "alice@example.com"
}

Token Savings: ~25% fewer tokens with TOON! 🚀

What Makes TOON Different?​

  1. Human-Readable: Clean syntax without brackets and quotes
  2. Token-Efficient: Up to 40% fewer tokens than JSON (ideal for AI/LLM)
  3. Type-Safe: Strongly typed serialization/deserialization
  4. Performance: Uses expression trees, not reflection

Next Steps​

Now that you've completed your first serialization: