Why does ArrayList use transient storage?

Question

I was reading the source of Java\'s ArrayList and I came across its backing array declaration:

private transient Object[] elementData;

Why

Answer 1

ArrayList implements Serializable, so it can be serialized, that's exactly why the private backing array is transient, so it is not serialized along with other data in the class, since all is handled by ArrayList's writeObject and readObject methods.