Why and how is serialization used in Java web applications?

Question

I\'ve been working on a Java web application where the framework insists that everything is Serializable. I assume that this isn\'t specific to the framework but to web app

Answer 1

Serialization is useful in any application environment, not just web applications.

One major use for serialization is for transport. You want to copy or move an object to a remote computer, say a UserProfile. You can serialize the UserProfile, send the serialized data (typically XML) and deserialize it to a new object on the receiving end, at which point it can be manipulated as though it were the original object.

Another use is saving state. You may have a game and you want to save the exact state of a game board. You can serialize the Board object which can subsequently be told to serialize each of its Tiles.