In Java serialisation why does J signify a long and L signify an Object?

Question

When you serialise an object in Java, the letter J is used to signify the next bytes represent a long and the letter L is used to signify that an Object is next, but why? Why not use O for Object and L for long?

Answer 1

These letters certainly were choosen because of conflicts. A guesswork of that conflicts:

• C was taken for char. So, they used L for class.

• L was taken for class. So, they used J for long.

• B was taken for byte. So, they used Z for boolean.

By the way, 'L' doesn't mean 'Object', but 'fully-qualified-class'.