What is object serialization?
Location: http://www.jguru.com/faq/view.jsp?EID=957 Created: Nov 13, 1999 Modified: 1999-12-22 23:52:33.81 Author: Govind Seshadri (http://www.jguru.com/guru/viewbio.jsp?EID=14) Serializing an object involves encoding its state in a structured way within a byte array. Once an object is serialized, the byte array can be manipulated in various ways; it can be written to a file, sent over a network using a socket-based connection or RMI, or persisted within a database as a BLOB. The serialization process encodes enough information about the object type within the byte stream, allowing the original object to be easily recreated upon deserialization, at a later point in time.