Serialization

Serialization is a mechanism used to convert any object into a sequence of bytes that can be later reconstructed. The ability to store and retrieve objects is essential for building a network application. RMI heavily depends on the object serialization mechanism to transmit data from one machine to another. When sending messages to remote objects, object serialization is necessary to transport the arguments and return values. When a remote object is passed to a client, the client receives a stub. The actual object stays on the server. If you pass non-remote objects, the client gets a copy of the object. RMI system can make copies of an object, if that object implements the Serializable interface. This chapter shows an example of implementing the Serializable interface and passing custom objects across a network.

The source code needed for this example is stored in the examples\Customobjects directory. The "Customobjects" directory contains the following files:

• CustomInterface.java
• CustomServerImpl.java
• CustomClient.java
• Customer.java
• Compile.bat
• Rmicompile.bat
• RunServer.bat
• RunClient.bat