json-serialization

Add the kotlin serialization plugin and the kotlinx-serialization-json dependency to your Gradle build, then create one shared Json instance with ignoreUnknownKeys, explicitNulls set to false, and coerceInputValues enabled. Reuse that instance everywhere instead of creating local ones.

Enums serialize as their name string by default. For custom string values, write mapper functions converting between the enum and its string representation, or use @SerialName annotations. Avoid ordinal-based serialization since reordering breaks stored data.

Yes, use a sealed class with @Serializable subclasses, each annotated with a distinct @SerialName discriminator. The Json decoder uses the type field to instantiate the correct subclass when decoding heterogeneous lists.

MissingFieldException occurs when a required constructor field has no default value and is absent from the JSON. Fix it by adding a default value or making the field nullable with = null.

No, mixing kotlinx.serialization with Gson or Moshi is an anti-pattern because the libraries are incompatible in annotation and configuration models. Pick kotlinx.serialization and use it consistently across the project.