Techniques for deserializing stream objects are disclosed. The system may receive data representing a stream object. The data can include an object descriptor, a class descriptor, and stream field values corresponding to the stream object. The system may select a particular deserialization process, from among a plurality of deserialization processes. The selection may be based at least in part on the object descriptor and the class descriptor. The system can deserialize the data representing the stream object using the selected deserialization process, yielding one or more deserialized objects.