such a problem, and even if it is documented, there is no guarantee that the developer will see the documentation. JavaBeans are inherently mutable and so lack the advantages offered by immutable objects. Having to create getters for every property and setters for many, most, or all of them can lead to an immense quantity of boilerplate code. JavaBeans API The JavaBeans functionality is provided by a set of classes and interfaces in the java.beans package. JavaBean conventions In order to function as a JavaBean class, an object class must obey certain conventions about method naming, construction, and behaviour. These conventions make it possible to have tools that can use, reuse, replace, and connect Java Beans. The required conventions are as follows: The class must have a public default constructor (with no arguments). This allows easy instantiation within editing and activation frameworks. The class properties must be accessible using get, set, is (can be used for boolean properties instead of get), to and other methods (so-called accessor methods and mutator methods) according to a standard naming convention. This allows easy automated inspection and updating of bean state within frameworks, many of which include custom editors for various types of properties. Setters can have one or more arguments. The class should be serializable. (This allows applications and frameworks to reliably save, store, and restore the bean's state in a manner independent of the VM and of the platform.) Code example package player; public class PersonBean implements java.io.Serializable { /** Properties **/ private boolean deceased = false; private List list; /** Property "name", readable/writable. */ private String name = null; /** No-arg constructor (takes no arguments). */ public PersonBean() { } public List getList() { return list; } public void setList(final List list) { this.list = list; } /** * Getter for property "name". */ public String getName() { return name; } /** * Setter for property "name". * * @param value */ public void setName(final String value) { this.name = value; } /** * Getter for property "deceased" * Different syntax for a boolean field (is vs get) */ public boolean isDeceased() { return deceased; } /** * Setter for property "deceased". * @param value */ public void setDeceased(boolean value) { deceased = value; } } TestPersonBean.java: import player.PersonBean; /** * Class "TestPersonBean". */ public class TestPersonBean { /** * Tester method "main" for class "PersonBean". * * @param arguments */