* @return the deserialized object
     */
    public static Object serialize(final Object obj) {
        assertArgumentNotNull("obj", obj);

        final byte[] binary = fromObjectToBinary(obj);
        return fromBinaryToObject(binary);
    }

    /**
     * Converts an object to a byte array.
     *
     * @param obj the object to serialize (must not be {@literal null})

 */

package com.google.common.collect.testing;

import com.google.common.annotations.GwtIncompatible;
import java.util.Set;

/**
 * Reserializes the sets created by another test set generator.
 *
 * <p>TODO: make CollectionTestSuiteBuilder test reserialized collections
 *
 * @author Jesse Wilson
 */
@GwtIncompatible
public class ReserializingTestSetGenerator<E> extends ReserializingTestCollectionGenerator<E>

   * Multiset.
   */
  @SuppressWarnings("UndefinedEquals")
  public void testReserialize() {
    assertEquals(SerializableTester.reserialize(actualContents()), actualContents());
  }

   * Multiset.
   */
  @SuppressWarnings("UndefinedEquals")
  public void testReserialize() {
    assertEquals(SerializableTester.reserialize(actualContents()), actualContents());
  }

    }

    @Override
    public SampleElements<E> samples() {
      return gen.samples();
    }

    @Override
    public Collection<E> create(Object... elements) {
      return SerializableTester.reserialize(gen.create(elements));
    }

    @Override
    public E[] createArray(int length) {
      return gen.createArray(length);
    }

    @Override
    public Iterable<E> order(List<E> insertionOrder) {

 */

package com.google.common.collect.testing;

import com.google.common.annotations.GwtIncompatible;
import java.util.Set;

/**
 * Reserializes the sets created by another test set generator.
 *
 * <p>TODO: make CollectionTestSuiteBuilder test reserialized collections
 *
 * @author Jesse Wilson
 */
@GwtIncompatible
public class ReserializingTestSetGenerator<E> extends ReserializingTestCollectionGenerator<E>

    }

    @Override
    public SampleElements<E> samples() {
      return gen.samples();
    }

    @Override
    public Collection<E> create(Object... elements) {
      return SerializableTester.reserialize(gen.create(elements));
    }

    @Override
    public E[] createArray(int length) {
      return gen.createArray(length);
    }

    @Override
    public Iterable<E> order(List<E> insertionOrder) {

## Decision

We do not use Java serialization.
Instead, we use custom serialization where we explicitly describe how data objects should be serialized and deserialized.

For internal purposes, we use binary formats for their brevity.
We use the `Serializer` abstraction to separate the actual implementation of serialization from its uses.

    }

    @Override
    public SampleElements<E> samples() {
      return gen.samples();
    }

    @Override
    public Set<E> create(Object... elements) {
      return (Set<E>) SerializableTester.reserialize(gen.create(elements));
    }

    @Override
    public E[] createArray(int length) {
      return gen.createArray(length);
    }

    @Override
    public Iterable<E> order(List<E> insertionOrder) {

    @Override
    public SampleElements<E> samples() {
      return gen.samples();
    }

    @Override
    public List<E> create(Object... elements) {
      return (List<E>) SerializableTester.reserialize(gen.create(elements));
    }

    @Override
    public E[] createArray(int length) {
      return gen.createArray(length);
    }

    @Override
    public Iterable<E> order(List<E> insertionOrder) {