# File lib/js_routes.rb, line 271
  def serialize(spec, parent_spec=nil)
    return nil unless spec
    return spec.tr(':', '') if spec.is_a?(String)
    result = serialize_spec(spec, parent_spec)
    if parent_spec && result[1].is_a?(String)
      result = [
        # We encode node symbols as integer
        # to reduce the routes.js file size
        NODE_TYPES[:CAT],
        serialize_spec(parent_spec),
        result
      ]
    end
    result
  end