The Java serialization algorithm revealed

"Serialization is the process of saving an object's state to a sequence of bytes; deserialization is the process of rebuilding those bytes into a live object. The Java Serialization API provides a standard mechanism for developers to handle object serialization. In this tip, you will see how to serialize an object, and why serialization is sometimes necessary. You'll learn about the serialization algorithm used in Java, and see an example that illustrates the serialized format of an object. By the time you're done, you should have a solid knowledge of how the serialization algorithm works and what entities are serialized as part of the object at a low level."