add single-argument (de)serialize methods operating on vectors of bytes

stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl

@@ -824,6 +824,22 @@ Open a file and serialize the given value to it.
 """
 serialize(filename::AbstractString, x) = open(io->serialize(io, x), filename, "w")
 
+"""
+    serialize(value) -> Vector{UInt8}
+
+Serialize the given value to a byte vector and return it.
+
+See [`serialize(::IO, value)`](@ref serialize(::IO, ::Any)) for more details on serialization format and caveats.
+
+!!! compat "Julia 1.13"
+    This method is available as of Julia 1.13.
+"""
+function serialize(x)::Vector{UInt8}
+    buf = IOBuffer()
+    serialize(buf, x)
+    return take!(buf)
+end
+
 ## deserializing values ##
 
 """
@@ -847,6 +863,18 @@ Open a file and deserialize its contents.
 """
 deserialize(filename::AbstractString) = open(deserialize, filename)
 
+"""
+    deserialize(data::Vector{UInt8})
+
+Deserialize the given byte vector and return the resulting value.
+
+See [`deserialize(::IO)`](@ref deserialize(::IO)) for more details and caveats.
+
+!!! compat "Julia 1.13"
+    This method is available as of Julia 1.13.
+"""
+deserialize(data::Vector{UInt8}) = deserialize(IOBuffer(data))
+
 function deserialize(s::AbstractSerializer)
     handle_deserialize(s, Int32(read(s.io, UInt8)::UInt8))
 end

stdlib/Serialization/test/runtests.jl

@@ -657,6 +657,12 @@ end
     @test l2.parts === ()
 end
 
+# serialize to and deserialize from Vector{UInt8}
+@testset "Vector{UInt8}" begin
+    @test serialize([1, 2, 3]) isa Vector{UInt8}
+    @test deserialize(serialize([1, 2, 3])) == [1, 2, 3]
+end
+
 @testset "Docstrings" begin
     undoc = Docs.undocumented_names(Serialization)
     @test_broken isempty(undoc)