This question has been asked before. Please search for this in "I/O and Streams" forum.
Check this out:
https://coderanch.com/t/275384/Streams/java/serialization-externalization [ July 09, 2002: Message edited by: Snigdha Solanki ]
Marilyn edited the link to be a valid link.
[ July 09, 2002: Message edited by: Marilyn de Queiroz ]