Is it possible to automatically serialize a C++ object?

Question

Is there something similar to Java/.NET serialization for C++?

Answer 1

Google's protocol buffers provides a C++ implementation in the core package; as a nice benefit, you can then share this data with lots of other languages - but you will be limited to using the generated types rather than your own (which some serialization engines in other languages support).

In reality this isn't a problem, as (if necessary) you can just treat the generated types as a DTO that twin to your actual domain objects.