@DoNotExpose Annotation

I was wondering why not include an annotation that allows the exclusion of only a single field or just few fields while serialization.

Example:

Class Test{ String s1; String s2; String s3; String s4; }

If I want to avoid serializing s1 and want to expose the other fields then it currently would look like :

Class Test{ String s1; @Expose String s2; @Expose String s3; @Expose String s4; }

But, I think it would be way more easier to have it the following :

Class Test{ **@DoNotExpose** String s1; String s2; String s3; String s4; }

Can someone please tell if there is a reason for not having this annotation or if there is a cleaner workaround for this available already, as we have a case where we want to avoid serializing a single heavy reference in classes and still expose the other fields.

[NightlyNexus]

Use the transient modifier?

[arundhaj]

@lyubomyr-shaydariv True 😉. For an API project which I’m working on, though I have few fields (around 15-20), I have many classes (around 35-40). For now, I use two duplicate classes; one for domain objects and one for API objects. I use API objects only for external interface and domain objects for everything else used internally. Specific to this issue, I’m using User Defined Exclusion Strategy to annotate few fields to @GsonExclude instead of many fields to @Expose.