How can I keep GWT from trying to include every serializable class when I use ArrayList

Question

I have an RPC service in GWT that needs to return a List. The List can be filled with various types of objects, all of which are serializable and all of are referenced elsewher

Answer 1

If you add an ArrayList or similarly an Object field to a serializable object, the GWT compiler has no choice but to include all possible variants in its compilation. You are essentially declaring I can send anything using this field , so the compiler makes sure that you are able to send anything.

The solution is to declare , using generic parameters, the specific types you are sending. That might require splitting into multiple parameters or classes, but it does keep the code size and compile time down.