Item 75: Consider using a custom serialized form

When you are producing a class under time pressure, it is generally appropriate to concentrate your efforts on designing the best API. Sometimes this means releasing a “throwaway” implementation that you know you’ll replace in a future release. Normally this is not a problem, but if the class implements Serializable and uses the default serialized form, you’ll never be able to escape completely from the throwaway implementation. It will dictate the serialized form forever. This is not just a theoretical problem. It happened to several classes in the Java platform libraries, including BigInteger.

Do not accept the default serialized form without first considering whether it is appropriate. Accepting the default serialized form should be a conscious decision that this encoding is reasonable from the standpoint of flexibility, performance, and correctness. Generally speaking, you should accept the default serialized form only if it is largely identical to the encoding that you would choose if you were designing a custom serialized form.