Three alternative options to Java's native serialisation: * Object database db4o: http://db4o.com
* WOX (Web Objects in XML) (my own) http://algoval.essex.ac.uk/wox/serial/readme.html * JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) - also has Java libraries. Simon Lucas -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 09 February 2007 18:40 To: computer-go@computer-go.org Subject: Re: [computer-go] Serializing a very large object in Java Peter, java serialization is not a good way to do persistent storage of any kind, especially large data structures. It has some pretty severe drawbacks: - It is slow - It breaks easily (ie, becomes unable to load older data sets) when you make even small changes in your code. - It makes inefficient use of space - The format is difficult to decode or manipulate in any way other than reading or writing with the exact .class file used to generate the serialization code. Java serialization is excellent for RMI, but is pretty poor for any other use. I've used serialization myself several times and I regretted it every time (except for when I used it for RMI). My advice would be to come up with your own data format and use that. _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/ _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/