What is object serialization? (Java)

Question

Not so technical, what is serialization of an object and its purpose? When should it be used?

(any examples of analogies are welcome)

thanks

Answer 1

Serializing objects allows you to convert objects (datastructures) into a binary or other custom view. This, in turn, can be used to send these binary representations over a wire or to store them in a file system.

Serialization can be used to

• Sending objects over the network
• Constancy
• Deepcopy Object Trees
• ?

Java , , , , Serializable. "", , .

:

• http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/io/Serializable.html
• http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/io/Externalizable.html

Answer 2

, , . . .

Answer 3

:

- - (, xml ..).

Serialized ... ... ... .

Answer 4

- , .

, Java Serialization

Answer 5

. :

Serialization is the conversion of an object to a series of bytes, so that the object can be easily stored for permanent storage or communication. The byte stream can then be deserialized - converted to a replica of the original object.

Answer 6

Non-technical: serialization is the process of streaming a memory-based structure (for example, an object that lives normally in main memory) to something permanent, usually on a hard drive. Therefore, you can map the structure of an object to something like XML.