Why we need transient keyword to prevent serialization? [ Java ]

Question

I do not understand that why we need transient keyword to prevent serialization of a particular data member. We can also make it static because static data member can not be serialized. Please guide me if I am wrong!

[Here's an explanation of `static`.](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2649213/in-laymans-terms-what-does-static-mean-in-java) — Sotirios Delimanolis, Oct 14 '15 at 21:56

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 21 '21 at 02:49

static does not just make a member not serialized; it also means that there is only one copy of that field for the entire class. If you want there to be a copy of that field for each object, but do not want that object to be serialized, you need transient; static will do something completely different.

Making variables static without fully understanding this is a massively common source of bugs for new Java developers.

Why we need transient keyword to prevent serialization? [ Java ]

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