function table.serialize(t)
    if not t or type(t) ~= 'table' then return end -- if nil or not a table
    local buf = '{'
    for key,value in pairs(t) do
        local v_type,k_type = type(value),type(key)
        if      v_type ~= 'userdata'    and k_type ~= 'userdata' -- ignore fields and keys witch contain userdata, thread or function
        and     v_type ~= 'thread'      and k_type ~= 'thread'
        and     v_type ~= 'function'    and k_type ~= 'function'
        then
            if k_type == 'number' then
                buf = buf .. '['..key..'] = '
            else
                buf = buf .. '[\''..key..'\'] = ' end
            if v_type == 'table' then
                value = table.serialize(value)
            elseif v_type == 'string' then
                value = '\''..value..'\''
            else
                value = tostring(value)
            end
            buf = buf .. value
            if next(t,key) then buf = buf..',' end
        end
    end
    return buf .. '}'
end

function table.deserialize(s)
    local getTableFromString = loadstring('return '..s)
    local t = getTableFromString()
    if type(t) ~= 'table' then return end
    return t
end