Unable to Deserialize Complex JSON with Mixed Types in C# using Newtonsoft.Json - Unexpected Nulls
I'm prototyping a solution and I've been banging my head against this for hours. I'm collaborating on a project where Hey everyone, I'm running into an issue that's driving me crazy. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but I'm working with a complex JSON structure that has mixed types (arrays, objects, and primitive types), and when I attempt to deserialize it using Newtonsoft.Json, I'm getting unexpected null values for some properties. Here’s a snippet of the JSON I'm trying to deserialize: ```json { "name": "John", "age": 30, "isActive": true, "roles": ["admin", "user"], "address": { "street": "123 Main St", "city": "New York" }, "preferences": null } ``` I have defined a corresponding C# class as follows: ```csharp public class User { public string Name { get; set; } public int Age { get; set; } public bool IsActive { get; set; } public List<string> Roles { get; set; } public Address Address { get; set; } public Preferences Preferences { get; set; } } public class Address { public string Street { get; set; } public string City { get; set; } } public class Preferences { public bool? EmailNotifications { get; set; } public bool? SMSAlerts { get; set; } } ``` When I call `JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<User>(jsonString)`, I find that the `Preferences` property is always null, even though the JSON explicitly states it as `null`. Here’s what I have tried so far: - I verified that my JSON string is correctly formatted and matches the structure of my C# classes. - I checked the `Preferences` class for proper nullable types, but it seems like the problem persists regardless of the properties within it. - I also tried using `JsonSerializerSettings` with `NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Include`, thinking it might help capture the nulls, but that didn't change anything. Here’s the code I used for deserialization: ```csharp string jsonString = // the JSON string here; var user = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<User>(jsonString); ``` What could be causing this behavior? Is there something specific I’m missing in the deserialization process, or could it be a mismatch between the JSON structure and my C# class definitions? Am I missing something obvious? Is there a better approach? I'm working in a Windows 11 environment. What's the correct way to implement this? I'm working in a CentOS environment. This is my first time working with C# stable. Has anyone dealt with something similar?