I have two classes : base class name Component and inheritd class named DBComponent [Serializable] public class Component { private string name = string.Empty; private string description = string.Empty; } [Serializable] public class DBComponent : Component { private List<string> spFiles = new List<string>(); // Storage Procedure Files [XmlArrayItem("SPFile", typeof(string))] [XmlArray("SPFiles")] public List<string> SPFiles { get { return spFiles; } set { spFiles = value; } } public DBComponent(string name, string description) : base(name, description) { } } [Serializable] public class ComponentsCollection { private static ComponentsCollection instance = null; private List<Component> components = new List<Component>(); public List<Component> Components { get { return components; } set { components = value; } } public static ComponentsCollection GetInstance() { if (ccuInstance == null) { lock (lockObject) { if (instance == null) PopulateComponents(); } } return instance; } private static void PopulateComponents() { instance = new CCUniverse(); XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(instance.GetType()); instance = xs.Deserialize(XmlReader.Create("Components.xml")) as ComponentsCollection; } } } I want read\write from a Xml file. I know that I need to implement the Serialization for DBComponent class otherwise it will not read it.But i cannot find any simple article for that. all the articles that I found were too complex for this simple scenario. The Xml file looks like this: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <ComponentsCollection> <Components> <DBComponent Name="Tenant Historical Database" Description="Tenant Historical Database"> <SPFiles> <SPFile>Setup\TenantHistoricalSP.sql</SPFile> </SPFiles> </DBComponent> <Component Name="Agent" Description="Desktop Agent" /> </Components> </ComponentsCollection> Can someone please give me a simple example of how to read this kind of xml file and what should be implemented ? Thanks Lior