Objects, Classes, and Interfaces

Declaring a Transient Variable

You use the transient keyword to indicate to the Java virtual machine that the indicated variable is not part of the persistent state of the object. Variables that are part of the persistent state of an object must be saved when the object is archived.

At this time, the transient marker is ignored by the Java runtime system. Future releases of the Java system will use the transient marker to implement various object archiving functions.

Like other variable modifiers in the Java system, you use transient in a class or instance variable declaration like this:

class TransientExample {
    transient int hobo;
    . . .
}

This statement declares an integer variable named hobo that is not part of the persistent state of the TransientExample class.

Objects, Classes, and Interfaces