--- /dev/null
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Serializer\Encoder;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Exception\UnexpectedValueException;
+
+/**
+ * Defines the interface of decoders.
+ *
+ * @author Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
+ */
+interface DecoderInterface
+{
+ /**
+ * Decodes a string into PHP data.
+ *
+ * @param string $data Data to decode
+ * @param string $format Format name
+ * @param array $context options that decoders have access to
+ *
+ * The format parameter specifies which format the data is in; valid values
+ * depend on the specific implementation. Authors implementing this interface
+ * are encouraged to document which formats they support in a non-inherited
+ * phpdoc comment.
+ *
+ * @return mixed
+ *
+ * @throws UnexpectedValueException
+ */
+ public function decode($data, $format, array $context = array());
+
+ /**
+ * Checks whether the deserializer can decode from given format.
+ *
+ * @param string $format format name
+ *
+ * @return bool
+ */
+ public function supportsDecoding($format);
+}