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title Basic Serialization
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id basic_serialization
license Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

This page covers the Java xlang quickstart. Xlang mode is the default Java wire format and is the right first choice for cross-language payloads.

Create a Fory Instance

For a single-threaded xlang Fory instance, set the mode explicitly:

import org.apache.fory.Fory;

Fory fory = Fory.builder()
    .withXlang(true)
    .requireClassRegistration(true)
    .build();

For a thread-safe Fory instance, build ThreadSafeFory from the same builder:

import org.apache.fory.ThreadSafeFory;

ThreadSafeFory fory = Fory.builder()
    .withXlang(true)
    .requireClassRegistration(true)
    .buildThreadSafeFory();

Default Java xlang mode also defaults to compatible schema mode, so independently deployed services can add and remove fields when their schema metadata remains compatible. Use withCompatible(false) only when every reader and writer always uses the same schema and you want faster serialization and smaller size. Use the compatible=false opt-out only after verifying that every language uses the same xlang schema, or when native types are generated from Fory schema IDL.

Register Custom Types

Register application classes with the same type identity on every peer. Numeric IDs are compact and fast, while name registration is easier to coordinate across independently owned services.

import org.apache.fory.annotation.ForyField;

public class User {
  @ForyField(id = 0)
  public String name;

  @ForyField(id = 1)
  public int age;
}

Fory fory = Fory.builder()
    .withXlang(true)
    .requireClassRegistration(true)
    .build();

fory.register(User.class, "example", "User");

Use field IDs for long-lived schemas so field identity is stable even if Java field names change. See Schema Metadata for Java annotations, nullability, reference tracking, and enum metadata.

Serialize And Deserialize

User user = new User();
user.name = "Alice";
user.age = 30;

byte[] bytes = fory.serialize(user);
User decoded = fory.deserialize(bytes, User.class);

When xlang bytes cross languages, every peer must register the same type identity and compatible field metadata. The shared rules live in Xlang, while Java-specific API calls are in Xlang Serialization.

Use Native Serialization For Java-Only Traffic

For same-language Java/JVM traffic, native mode is usually the better fit:

Fory fory = Fory.builder()
    .withXlang(false)
    .build();

Native mode supports the broad Java object serialization surface, including JDK serialization hooks, object copy, and native-mode zero-copy buffers. See Native Serialization.

Common Options

  • withRefTracking(true) preserves shared references and circular references.
  • requireClassRegistration(true) keeps the default registered-type policy.
  • Compatible mode is enabled by default for native-mode and xlang payloads. Use withCompatible(false) only when every reader and writer uses the same schema and you want faster serialization and smaller size. For xlang payloads, use the compatible=false opt-out only after verifying that every language uses the same schema, or when native types are generated from Fory schema IDL.
  • withAsyncCompilation(true) enables asynchronous serializer compilation where supported.

Best Practices

  1. Reuse Fory instances: Creating Fory is expensive, always reuse instances
  2. Use appropriate thread safety: Choose between single-thread and thread-safe based on your needs
  3. Register classes: Keep type identity stable across every xlang peer
  4. Configure reference tracking: Enable it only when the object graph needs identity or cycles

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