For what purpose is serialization used in Java?

Serialization is used to convert an object into a stream of bytes that can be saved to a file, transmitted over a network, or processed in other ways. This byte stream can later be deserialized back into an object.

Main purposes:

• Saving object state: Allows saving the state of objects between application runs or on different devices.
• Transmitting objects over a network: Objects can be serialized for transfer between different processes or computers over a network.
• Inter-process communication: Enables sharing objects between different processes within the same machine.
• Data replication: Used to create copies of objects or system states.
• Distributed computing: Necessary for transferring objects between nodes in a distributed system.

For serialization, an object must implement the java.io.Serializable interface. If a class contains fields that should not be serialized, they can be marked with the transient keyword.