Switch to deterministic property index-based serialization/deserialization for improved performance and cross-platform consistency. Properties are now ordered alphabetically and accessed by index, enabling O(1) lookups and eliminating string/dictionary overhead. Introduce thread-local metadata caches, refactor metadata and populate logic, optimize string interning and enum handling, and remove legacy name-based code paths. Update diagnostics and documentation for clarity and maintainability.
- Introduced a high-performance, reusable "chain" API for JSON deserialization and object population, enabling parsed JSON to be reused for multiple deserializations without reparsing. Exposed via new extension methods and interfaces (`IDeserializeChain<T>`, `IPopulateChain`).
- Added comprehensive infrastructure for serializing and deserializing .NET Expression trees to a universal DTO (`AcExpressionNode`), with full round-trip support and robust handling of constants, closures, and queryable expressions.
- Centralized all property accessor and expression utilities in `AcSerializerCommon` to avoid duplication and improve maintainability.
- Enhanced both JSON and binary serializers to support Expression and IQueryable types, with automatic conversion to/from `AcExpressionNode`.
- Refactored type metadata and property accessor logic for performance and code reuse.
- Added extensive unit tests for the new chain API and expression serialization, and reorganized test models and namespaces for clarity.
- Improved logging, error handling, and test infrastructure.
- Misc: Added settings for local builds, updated project files, and cleaned up obsolete code.
Major overhaul of binary serializer/deserializer tests: split and expand test coverage for primitives, objects, navigation, generics, circular refs, and edge cases. Fix critical bugs in property skipping, string interning, type mismatch diagnostics, nullable assignment, and VarInt decoding. Add WASM-optimized deserialization options with string caching. Switch SignalR compression from Brotli to Gzip and introduce GzipHelper. Add comprehensive StockTaking test models and real-world bug reproductions. Improve diagnostics, test discovery, and add benchmark/utility scripts.
Loretta