What are @JsonTypeInfo and @JsonSubTypes used for in jackson

Question

What are the @JsonTypeInfo and @JsonSubTypes annotations used for in Jackson?

public class Lion extends Animal {

private String name;

@JsonCreator
public Lion(@JsonProperty("name") String name) {
    this.name = name;
}

public String getName() {
    return name;
}

public String getSound() {
    return "Roar";
}

public String getType() {
    return "carnivorous";
}

public boolean isEndangered() {
    return true;
}

@Override
public String toString() {
    return "Lion [name=" + name + ", getName()=" + getName() + ", getSound()=" + getSound() + ", getType()=" + getType() + ", isEndangered()="
            + isEndangered() + "]";
}

}

========================================

public class Elephant extends Animal {

@JsonProperty
private String name;

@JsonCreator
public Elephant(@JsonProperty("name") String name) {
    this.name = name;
}

public String getName() {
    return name;
}

public String getSound() {
    return "trumpet";
}

public String getType() {
    return "herbivorous";
}

public boolean isEndangered() {
    return false;
}

@Override
public String toString() {
    return "Elephant [name=" + name + ", getName()=" + getName() + ", getSound()=" + getSound() + ", getType()=" + getType()
            + ", isEndangered()=" + isEndangered() + "]";
}
}

==============================================

@JsonTypeInfo (use = JsonTypeInfo.Id.CLASS, include = As.PROPERTY, property = "classNameExtenral")
@JsonSubTypes ({@Type (value = Lion.class, name = "lion"), @Type (value = Elephant.class, name = "elephant")})

public abstract class Animal {

@JsonProperty ("name")
String name;
@JsonProperty ("sound")
String sound;
@JsonProperty ("type")
String type;
@JsonProperty ("endangered")
boolean endangered;
}

public static void main(String[] args){
    Lion lion = new Lion("Simba");
    Elephant elephant = new Elephant("Manny");
    List<Animal> animals = new ArrayList<>();
    animals.add(lion);
    animals.add(elephant);
}

What I understand is that it additionally preserves the concrete type of object being serialised along with the actual data.

What is not clear to me is what is the actual advantage/gain during deserialization.

Not getting any significant documentation apart from the java docs. Can anyone please help out here or provide some docs around the same.

Answer 1

Turn off AOT (Ahead of Time). If you check on AOT in your applicaion (.NET core) just forget about serialisation.