Autodetection of types

This chapter explains on a very high level how MapMaid determines how a class is to be serialized and deserialized.

Ignored features

When analyzing a class, there are some features (methods, fields or constructors) that MapMaid will not consider to use for serialization and deserialization:

• Fields, methods or constructors that are not declared public
• The inherited or overwritten methods toString() and hashCode
• Fields declared transient

Primitive inlining

MapMaid supports primitive inlining of classes, i.e. mapping a class to a (JSON/XML/etc.) primitive instead of a (JSON/XML/etc.) object. A class is primitive inlined if at least one of the following holds true:

• It has exactly one field of one of the following types:
  • String
  • int or Integer
  • long or Long
  • float or Float
  • double or Double
  • boolean or Boolean
• It features a preferred factory method for primitive objects
• It features a preferred serialization method for primitive objects

A class is not primitive inlined if at least one of the following holds true:

• It features a preferred factory method for composite objects

If none of the rules hold true, the class will be not inlined. If the decision is ambiguous, MapMaid will throw a detailed exception with information on how to resolve the conflict.

Preferred factory method for composite objects

If a class has a public and static factory method that is named deserialize, MapMaid will always use this method to deserialize the class. The presence of this method will ensure that the class is not primitive inlined. You can change the preferred name like this:

final MapMaid mapMaid = MapMaid.aMapMaid()
        .withAdvancedSettings(advancedBuilder -> {
            advancedBuilder.withPreferredSerializedObjectFactoryName("instantiate");
        })
        .build();

Preferred factory method for primitive objects

If a class has a public and static factory method that is named fromStringValue, MapMaid will always use this method to deserialize the class. The presence of this method will ensure that the class is primitive inlined. You can change the preferred name like this:

final MapMaid mapMaid = MapMaid.aMapMaid()
        .withAdvancedSettings(advancedBuilder -> {
            advancedBuilder.withPreferredCustomPrimitiveFactoryName("instantiate");
        })
        .build();

Preferred serialization method for primitive objects

If a class has a public method that is named toStringValue, MapMaid will always use this method to serialize the class. The presence of this method will ensure that the class is primitive inlined. You can change the preferred name like this:

final MapMaid mapMaid = MapMaid.aMapMaid()
        .withAdvancedSettings(advancedBuilder -> {
            advancedBuilder.withPreferredCustomPrimitiveSerializationMethodName("serializeToString");
        })
        .build();

Factory method named after the class

If a class has a public and static factory method that has the same name as the class (case insensitive), MapMaid will prefer this factory method over most other factory methods for deserialization.

Constructors

If a class does not have any factory methods, MapMaid will fall back to use any public constructors for deserialization.

Getter methods

MapMaid will treat getter methods as fields. For example:

public final class GettersExample {
    public final String value1 = "value1";
    public final String value2 = "value2";
    public final String value3 = "value3";

    public String getValue1() {
        return this.value1;
    }

    public String getValue2() {
        return this.value2;
    }

    public String getValue3() {
        return this.value3;
    }
}

Serializing a new instance of the GettersExample class to JSON will result in:

{
   "value1": "value1",
   "value2": "value2",
   "value3": "value3"
}

It is possible to mix getters and public fields:

public final class MixedGettersAndPublicFieldsExample {
    public final String value1 = "value1 from public field";

    public String getValue2() {
        return "value2 from getter method";
    }

    public String getValue3() {
        return "value3 from getter method";
    }
}

Serializing a new instance of the MixedGettersAndPublicFieldsExample class to JSON will result in:

{
   "value1": "value1 from public field",
   "value2": "value2 from getter method",
   "value3": "value3 from getter method"
}

When a class features a public field and a getter method under the same name, MapMaid will use the public field. Example:

public final class GettersAndPublicFieldsExample {
    public final String value1 = "value1 from public field";
    public final String value2 = "value2 from public field";
    public final String value3 = "value3 from public field";

    public String getValue1() {
        return "value1 from getter method";
    }

    public String getValue2() {
        return "value2 from getter method";
    }

    public String getValue3() {
        return "value3 from getter method";
    }
}

Serializing a new instance of the GettersAndPublicFieldsExample class to JSON will result in:

{
   "value1": "value1 from public field",
   "value2": "value2 from public field",
   "value3": "value3 from public field"
}