How to generate a checksum for an java object

Question

I\'m looking for a solution to generate a checksum for any type of Java object, which remains the same for every execution of an application that produces the same object.

Answer 1

Example

private BigInteger checksum(Object obj) throws IOException, NoSuchAlgorithmException {

    if (obj == null) {
      return BigInteger.ZERO;   
    }

    ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
    ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(baos);
    oos.writeObject(obj);
    oos.close();

    MessageDigest m = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA1");
    m.update(baos.toByteArray());

    return new BigInteger(1, m.digest());
}