diff --git a/lib/rb/lib/thrift/serializer.rb b/lib/rb/lib/thrift/serializer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02ce859
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rb/lib/thrift/serializer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+module Thrift
+  class Serializer
+    def initialize(protocolFactory = BinaryProtocolFactory.new)
+      @transport = MemoryBuffer.new
+      @protocol = protocolFactory.get_protocol(@transport)
+    end
+
+    def serialize(base)
+      @transport.reset_buffer
+      base.write(@protocol)
+      @transport.read(@transport.available)
+    end
+  end
+
+  class Deserializer
+    def initialize(protocolFactory = BinaryProtocolFactory.new)
+      @transport = MemoryBuffer.new
+      @protocol = protocolFactory.get_protocol(@transport)
+    end
+
+    def deserialize(base, buffer)
+      @transport.reset_buffer(buffer)
+      base.read(@protocol)
+      base
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/rb/spec/serializer_spec.rb b/lib/rb/spec/serializer_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57e20ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rb/spec/serializer_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/spec_helper'
+require 'thrift/serializer'
+require 'ThriftSpec_types'
+
+class ThriftSerializerSpec < Spec::ExampleGroup
+  include Thrift
+  include SpecNamespace
+
+  describe Serializer do
+    it "should serialize structs to binary by default" do
+      serializer = Serializer.new
+      data = serializer.serialize(Hello.new(:greeting => "'Ello guv'nor!"))
+      data.should == "\x0B\x00\x01\x00\x00\x00\x0E'Ello guv'nor!\x00"
+    end
+
+    it "should serialize structs to the given protocol" do
+      protocol = mock("Protocol")
+      protocol.should_receive(:write_struct_begin).with("SpecNamespace::Hello")
+      protocol.should_receive(:write_field).with("greeting", Types::STRING, 1, "Good day")
+      protocol.should_receive(:write_field_stop)
+      protocol.should_receive(:write_struct_end)
+      protocolFactory = mock("ProtocolFactory")
+      protocolFactory.stub!(:get_protocol).and_return(protocol)
+      serializer = Serializer.new(protocolFactory)
+      serializer.serialize(Hello.new(:greeting => "Good day"))
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe Deserializer do
+    it "should deserialize structs from binary by default" do
+      deserializer = Deserializer.new
+      data = "\x0B\x00\x01\x00\x00\x00\x0E'Ello guv'nor!\x00"
+      deserializer.deserialize(Hello.new, data).should == Hello.new(:greeting => "'Ello guv'nor!")
+    end
+
+    it "should deserialize structs from the given protocol" do
+      protocol = mock("Protocol")
+      protocol.should_receive(:read_struct_begin).and_return("SpecNamespace::Hello")
+      protocol.should_receive(:read_field_begin).and_return(["greeting", Types::STRING, 1],
+                                                            [nil, Types::STOP, 0])
+      protocol.should_receive(:read_type).with(Types::STRING).and_return("Good day")
+      protocol.should_receive(:read_field_end)
+      protocol.should_receive(:read_struct_end)
+      protocolFactory = mock("ProtocolFactory")
+      protocolFactory.stub!(:get_protocol).and_return(protocol)
+      deserializer = Deserializer.new(protocolFactory)
+      deserializer.deserialize(Hello.new, "").should == Hello.new(:greeting => "Good day")
+    end
+  end
+end