serialVersionUID

[Giannis Georgalis]

Hello again from the primary spammer of the GNU classpath list :)

I have one question. Please forgive my ignorance, as I'm new to the
classpath project.

What is serialVersionUID?, what is it used for? (instanceof operator?),
where can I find it's value for a specific class? and should *all* the
api classes have this constant?

Thank you,
Giannis

-- 
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
(Epicurus)