feat: Implemenation of the Serialized Lob Pattern (#2795)

* #1596:Adding module for SLOB Pattern

* #1596:Adding Interface for Serializers

* #1596:Adding Objects

* #1596:Adding BLOB Based Serializer

* #1596:Implemented Clob Based Serializer

* #1596:Implemented Service for DB operations

* #1596:Implemented basic flow using Clob Serializer

* #1596:Added H2 DB Dependency

* #1596:Added Java Doc Stubs

* Updating Objects

* #1596:Completed Clob Serializer along with Tests

* #1596:Completed Slob Serializer along with Tests

* #1596:Completed Blob Serializer along with Tests

* #1596:Updated DatabaseService to handle Blob and Clob Data

* #1596:Added UML and updated README.md

* #1596:Updated data types for DB

* #1596:Code Style Formatting Cnames

* Adding Java Docs

* #1596:Reformatted as per Code Style

* #1596:Updating Java Doc

* #1596:Updating Main function to handle both Serializers

* #1596:Updated Java Docs

* #1596:Updated Java Docs

* #1596:Updated Java Docs and formatting

* #1596:Updated Java Docs and formatting

* #1596:Adding Java Docs

* #1596:Reformatted as per Code Style

* #1596:Updating Java Doc

* #1596:Updating Main function to handle both Serializers

* #1596:Updated Java Docs

* #1596:Updated Java Docs

* #1596:Updated Java Docs and formatting

* #1596:Updated Java Docs and formatting

* #1596:Updated Java Docs and formatting

* #1596:Updated Java Docs and formatting

* #1596:Updated README.md

* #1596:Updated Java Docs and README.md

* #1596:Updated Extension

* #1596:Updated README.md

* #1596:Updated Documentation as per review comments

* #1596:Updated Documentation as per review comments

* #1596: Updated README.md

* #1596:Updated Documentation as per review comments

* #1596: Added SLOB Module

---------

Co-authored-by: SHRADDHAP18 <87650482+SHRADDHAP18@users.noreply.github.com>

pom.xml

@@ -215,6 +215,7 @@
     <module>single-table-inheritance</module>
     <module>dynamic-proxy</module>
     <module>gateway</module>
+    <module>slob</module>
   </modules>
   <repositories>
     <repository>

slob/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,354 @@
+---
+title: Serialized LOB
+category: Structural
+language: en
+tag:
+  - Data access
+---
+
+## Intent
+
+* Object models often contain complicated graphs of small objects. Much of the information in these
+  structures isn’t in the objects but in the links between them.
+* Objects don’t have to be persisted as table rows related to each other.
+* Another form of persistence is serialization, where a whole graph of objects is written out as a
+  single large object (LOB) in a table.
+
+## Explanation
+
+**In plain words**
+
+> The Forest here represents the object graph.
+> A forest contains animals and plants. As is in real life the forest object contains plants and
+> animals where some animals eat other animals and some eat only plants.
+> * These relationships are maintained in the Forest Object.
+> * There are 2 types of Serializers available ClobSerializer and BlobSerializer.
+> * ClobSerializer uses character or textual based serialization, here the Object graph is converted
+> * to XML and then stored as text in DB.
+> * BlobSerializer uses binary data for serialization, here the Object graph is converted to Byte
+> * Array and then stored as a blob in DB.
+
+**Programmatic Example**
+
+* Here is the `Animal` class. It represents the Animal object in the Forest. It contains the name of
+  the animals in the forest and details of what they eat from the forest plants/animals or both.
+
+```java
+/**
+ * Creates an object Forest which contains animals and plants as its constituents. Animals may eat
+ * plants or other animals in the forest.
+ */
+@Data
+@NoArgsConstructor
+@AllArgsConstructor
+public class Forest implements Serializable {
+
+  private String name;
+  private final Set<Animal> animals = new HashSet<>();
+  private final Set<Plant> plants = new HashSet<>();
+
+  /**
+   * Provides the representation of Forest in XML form.
+   *
+   * @return XML Element
+   */
+  public Element toXmlElement() throws ParserConfigurationException {
+    Document xmlDoc = getXmlDoc();
+
+    Element forestXml = xmlDoc.createElement("Forest");
+    forestXml.setAttribute("name", name);
+
+    Element animalsXml = xmlDoc.createElement("Animals");
+    for (Animal animal : animals) {
+      Element animalXml = animal.toXmlElement(xmlDoc);
+      animalsXml.appendChild(animalXml);
+    }
+    forestXml.appendChild(animalsXml);
+
+    Element plantsXml = xmlDoc.createElement("Plants");
+    for (Plant plant : plants) {
+      Element plantXml = plant.toXmlElement(xmlDoc);
+      plantsXml.appendChild(plantXml);
+    }
+    forestXml.appendChild(plantsXml);
+    return forestXml;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns XMLDoc to use for XML creation.
+   *
+   * @return XML DOC Object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException {@inheritDoc}
+   */
+  private Document getXmlDoc() throws ParserConfigurationException {
+    return DocumentBuilderFactory.newDefaultInstance().newDocumentBuilder().newDocument();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Parses the Forest Object from the input XML Document.
+   *
+   * @param document the XML document from which the Forest is to be parsed
+   */
+  public void createObjectFromXml(Document document) {
+    name = document.getDocumentElement().getAttribute("name");
+    NodeList nodeList = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
+    iterateXmlForAnimalAndPlants(nodeList, animals, plants);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public String toString() {
+    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("\n");
+    sb.append("Forest Name = ").append(name).append("\n");
+    sb.append("Animals found in the ").append(name).append(" Forest: \n");
+    for (Animal animal : animals) {
+      sb.append("\n--------------------------\n");
+      sb.append(animal.toString());
+      sb.append("\n--------------------------\n");
+    }
+    sb.append("\n");
+    sb.append("Plants in the ").append(name).append(" Forest: \n");
+    for (Plant plant : plants) {
+      sb.append("\n--------------------------\n");
+      sb.append(plant.toString());
+      sb.append("\n--------------------------\n");
+    }
+    return sb.toString();
+  }
+}
+```
+
+* Here is the `LobSerializer` abstract class. It provides the specification to serialize and
+  deserialize the input object and persist and load that object into a DB.
+
+```java
+/**
+ * A LobSerializer can be used to create an instance of a serializer which can serialize and
+ * deserialize an object and persist and load that object into a DB. from their Binary
+ * Representation.
+ */
+public abstract class LobSerializer implements Serializable, Closeable {
+
+  private final transient DatabaseService databaseService;
+
+  /**
+   * Constructor initializes {@link LobSerializer#databaseService}.
+   *
+   * @param dataTypeDb Input provides type of Data to be stored by the Data Base Service
+   * @throws SQLException If any issue occurs during instantiation of DB Service or during startup.
+   */
+  protected LobSerializer(String dataTypeDb) throws SQLException {
+    databaseService = new DatabaseService(dataTypeDb);
+    databaseService.startupService();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Provides the specification to Serialize the input object.
+   *
+   * @param toSerialize Input Object to serialize
+   * @return Serialized Object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException if any issue occurs during parsing of input object
+   * @throws TransformerException         if any issue occurs during Transformation
+   * @throws IOException                  if any issues occur during reading object
+   */
+  public abstract Object serialize(Forest toSerialize)
+      throws ParserConfigurationException, TransformerException, IOException;
+
+  /**
+   * Saves the object to DB with the provided ID.
+   *
+   * @param id     key to be sent to DB service
+   * @param name   Object name to store in DB
+   * @param object Object to store in DB
+   * @return ID with which the object is stored in DB
+   * @throws SQLException if any issue occurs while saving to DB
+   */
+  public int persistToDb(int id, String name, Object object) throws SQLException {
+    databaseService.insert(id, name, object);
+    return id;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Loads the object from db using the ID and column name.
+   *
+   * @param id         to query the DB
+   * @param columnName column from which object is to be extracted
+   * @return Object from DB
+   * @throws SQLException if any issue occurs while loading from DB
+   */
+  public Object loadFromDb(int id, String columnName) throws SQLException {
+    return databaseService.select(id, columnName);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Provides the specification to Deserialize the input object.
+   *
+   * @param toDeserialize object to deserialize
+   * @return Deserialized Object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException If issue occurs during parsing of input object
+   * @throws IOException                  if any issues occur during reading object
+   * @throws SAXException                 if any issues occur during reading object for XML parsing
+   */
+  public abstract Forest deSerialize(Object toDeserialize)
+      throws ParserConfigurationException, IOException, SAXException, ClassNotFoundException;
+
+  @Override
+  public void close() {
+    try {
+      databaseService.shutDownService();
+    } catch (SQLException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+* Here is the `ClobSerializer` class. It extends the `LobSerializer` abstract class and provides the
+  implementation to serialize and deserialize the input object and persist and load that object into
+  a DB using ClobSerializer.
+* Objects are serialized using character or textual based serialization
+  using XML to represent the object graph.
+
+```java
+
+/**
+ * Creates a Serializer that uses Character based serialization and deserialization of objects graph
+ * to and from XML Representation.
+ */
+public class ClobSerializer extends LobSerializer {
+
+  public static final String TYPE_OF_DATA_FOR_DB = "TEXT";
+
+  public ClobSerializer() {
+    super(TYPE_OF_DATA_FOR_DB);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Converts the input node to its XML String Representation.
+   *
+   * @param node XML Node that is to be converted to string
+   * @return String representation of XML parsed from the Node
+   * @throws TransformerException If any issues occur in Transformation from Node to XML
+   */
+  private static String elementToXmlString(Element node) throws TransformerException {
+    StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
+    Transformer t = TransformerFactory.newDefaultInstance().newTransformer();
+    t.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.OMIT_XML_DECLARATION, "no");
+    t.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.INDENT, "yes");
+    t.transform(new DOMSource(node), new StreamResult(sw));
+    return sw.toString();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Serializes the input object graph to its XML Representation using DOM Elements.
+   *
+   * @param forest Object which is to be serialized
+   * @return Serialized object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException If any issues occur in parsing input object
+   * @throws TransformerException         If any issues occur in Transformation from Node to XML
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Object serialize(Forest forest) throws ParserConfigurationException, TransformerException {
+    Element xmlElement = forest.toXmlElement();
+    return elementToXmlString(xmlElement);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Deserializes the input XML string using DOM Parser and return its Object Graph Representation.
+   *
+   * @param toDeserialize Input Object to De-serialize
+   * @return Deserialized Object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException If any issues occur in parsing input object
+   * @throws IOException                  if any issues occur during reading object
+   * @throws SAXException                 If any issues occur in Transformation from Node to XML
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Forest deSerialize(Object toDeserialize)
+      throws ParserConfigurationException, IOException, SAXException {
+    DocumentBuilder documentBuilder = DocumentBuilderFactory.newDefaultInstance()
+        .newDocumentBuilder();
+    var stream = new ByteArrayInputStream(toDeserialize.toString().getBytes());
+    Document parsed = documentBuilder.parse(stream);
+    Forest forest = new Forest();
+    forest.createObjectFromXml(parsed);
+    return forest;
+  }
+}
+```
+
+* Here is the `SlobSerializer` class. It extends the `LobSerializer` abstract class and provides the
+  implementation to serialize and deserialize the input object and persist and load that object into
+  a DB using ClobSerializer.
+* Objects are serialized using binary data based serialization objects a persisted as a BINARY/BLOB
+  in DB.
+
+```java
+/**
+ * Creates a Serializer that uses Binary serialization and deserialization of objects graph to and
+ * from their Binary Representation.
+ */
+public class BlobSerializer extends LobSerializer {
+
+  public static final String TYPE_OF_DATA_FOR_DB = "BINARY";
+
+  public BlobSerializer() throws SQLException {
+    super(TYPE_OF_DATA_FOR_DB);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Serializes the input object graph to its Binary Representation using Object Stream.
+   *
+   * @param toSerialize Object which is to be serialized
+   * @return Serialized object
+   * @throws IOException {@inheritDoc}
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Object serialize(Forest toSerialize) throws IOException {
+    ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+    ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(baos);
+    oos.writeObject(toSerialize);
+    oos.close();
+    return new ByteArrayInputStream(baos.toByteArray());
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Deserializes the input Byte Array Stream using Object Stream and return its Object Graph
+   * Representation.
+   *
+   * @param toDeserialize Input Object to De-serialize
+   * @return Deserialized Object
+   * @throws ClassNotFoundException {@inheritDoc}
+   * @throws IOException            {@inheritDoc}
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Forest deSerialize(Object toDeserialize) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+    InputStream bis = (InputStream) toDeserialize;
+    Forest forest;
+    try (ObjectInput in = new ObjectInputStream(bis)) {
+      forest = (Forest) in.readObject();
+    }
+    return forest;
+  }
+}
+```
+
+## Class diagram
+
+![alt text](./etc/slob.urm.png "Serialized LOB")
+
+## Applicability
+
+* This pattern works best when you can chop out a piece of the object model and use it to represent
+  the LOB.
+* Think of a LOB as a way to take a bunch of objects that aren’t likely to be queried from any SQL
+  route outside the application.
+* This graph can then be hooked into the SQL schema. Serialized LOB works poorly when you have
+  objects outside the LOB reference objects buried in it.
+* Serialized LOB isn’t considered as often as it might be. XML makes it much more attractive since
+  it yields an easy-to-implement textual approach.
+* Its main disadvantage is that you can’t query the structure using SQL.
+* SQL extensions appear to get at XML data within a field, but that’s still not the same (or
+  portable).
+
+## Credits
+
+* [Serialized LOB](https://martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/serializedLOB.html) by Martin Fowler

slob/etc/slob.urm.uml

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+@startuml
+
+!theme plain
+top to bottom direction
+skinparam linetype ortho
+
+class Animal {
+  - animalsEaten: Set<Animal>
+  - name: String
+  - plantsEaten: Set<Plant>
+   animalsEaten: Set<Animal>
+   name: String
+   plantsEaten: Set<Plant>
+}
+class App
+class BlobSerializer
+class ClobSerializer
+class DatabaseService
+class Forest {
+  - animals: Set<Animal>
+  - name: String
+  - plants: Set<Plant>
+   animals: Set<Animal>
+   name: String
+   plants: Set<Plant>
+   xmlDoc: Document
+}
+class LobSerializer
+class Plant {
+  - name: String
+  - type: String
+   name: String
+   type: String
+}
+
+Animal           -[#595959,dashed]->  Plant           : "«create»"
+Animal          "1" *-[#595959,plain]-> "plantsEaten\n*" Plant
+App              -[#595959,dashed]->  Animal          : "«create»"
+App              -[#595959,dashed]->  ClobSerializer  : "«create»"
+App              -[#595959,dashed]->  Forest          : "«create»"
+App              -[#595959,dashed]->  Plant           : "«create»"
+BlobSerializer   -[#000082,plain]-^  LobSerializer
+ClobSerializer   -[#595959,dashed]->  Forest          : "«create»"
+ClobSerializer   -[#000082,plain]-^  LobSerializer
+Forest          "1" *-[#595959,plain]-> "animals\n*" Animal
+Forest          "1" *-[#595959,plain]-> "plants\n*" Plant
+LobSerializer   "1" *-[#595959,plain]-> "databaseService\n1" DatabaseService
+LobSerializer    -[#595959,dashed]->  DatabaseService : "«create»"
+@enduml

slob/pom.xml

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+
+    This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+
+    The MIT License
+    Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+
+    Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+    of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+    in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+    to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+    copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+    furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+    The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+    all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+    THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+    IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+    FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+    AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+    LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+    OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+    THE SOFTWARE.
+
+-->
+<project xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+
+    <artifactId>slob</artifactId>
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+    <parent>
+        <artifactId>java-design-patterns</artifactId>
+        <groupId>com.iluwatar</groupId>
+        <version>1.26.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    </parent>
+
+    <build>
+        <plugins>
+            <plugin>
+                <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <archive>
+                                <manifest>
+                                    <mainClass>com.iluwatar.slob.App</mainClass>
+                                </manifest>
+                            </archive>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+            </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+    </build>
+
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <artifactId>junit-jupiter-engine</artifactId>
+            <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <artifactId>h2</artifactId>
+            <groupId>com.h2database</groupId>
+            <version>2.2.220</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
+            <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+
+</project>

slob/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/slob/App.java

@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob;
+
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Animal;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Forest;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Plant;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.serializers.BlobSerializer;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.serializers.ClobSerializer;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.serializers.LobSerializer;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.Set;
+import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException;
+import javax.xml.transform.TransformerException;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
+
+/**
+ * SLOB Application using {@link LobSerializer} and H2 DB.
+ */
+public class App {
+
+  public static final String CLOB = "CLOB";
+  private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(App.class);
+
+  /**
+   * Main entry point to program.
+   * <p>In the SLOB pattern, the object graph is serialized into a single large object (a BLOB or
+   * CLOB, for Binary Large Object or Character Large Object, respectively) and stored in the
+   * database. When the object graph needs to be retrieved, it is read from the database and
+   * deserialized back into the original object graph.</p>
+   *
+   * <p>A Forest is created using {@link #createForest()} with Animals and Plants along with their
+   * respective relationships.</p>
+   *
+   * <p>Creates a {@link LobSerializer} using the method
+   * {@link #createLobSerializer(String[])}.</p>
+   *
+   * <p>Once created the serializer is passed to the
+   * {@link #executeSerializer(Forest, LobSerializer)} which handles the serialization,
+   * deserialization and persisting and loading from DB.</p>
+   *
+   * @param args if first arg is CLOB then ClobSerializer is used else BlobSerializer is used.
+   */
+  public static void main(String[] args) throws SQLException {
+    Forest forest = createForest();
+    LobSerializer serializer = createLobSerializer(args);
+    executeSerializer(forest, serializer);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * <p>Creates a {@link LobSerializer} on the basis of input args. </p>
+   * <p>If input args are not empty and the value equals {@link App#CLOB}  then a
+   * {@link ClobSerializer} is created else a {@link BlobSerializer} is created.</p>
+   *
+   * @param args if first arg is {@link App#CLOB} then ClobSerializer is instantiated else
+   *             BlobSerializer is instantiated.
+   */
+  private static LobSerializer createLobSerializer(String[] args) throws SQLException {
+    LobSerializer serializer;
+    if (args.length > 0 && Objects.equals(args[0], CLOB)) {
+      serializer = new ClobSerializer();
+    } else {
+      serializer = new BlobSerializer();
+    }
+    return serializer;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a Forest with {@link Animal} and {@link Plant} along with their respective
+   * relationships.
+   *
+   * <p> The method creates a {@link Forest} with 2 Plants Grass and Oak of type Herb and tree
+   * respectively.</p>
+   *
+   * <p> It also creates 3 animals Zebra and Buffalo which eat the plant grass. Lion consumes the
+   * Zebra and the Buffalo.</p>
+   *
+   * <p>With the above animals and plants and their relationships a forest
+   * object is created which represents the Object Graph.</p>
+   *
+   * @return Forest Object
+   */
+  private static Forest createForest() {
+    Plant grass = new Plant("Grass", "Herb");
+    Plant oak = new Plant("Oak", "Tree");
+
+    Animal zebra = new Animal("Zebra", Set.of(grass), Collections.emptySet());
+    Animal buffalo = new Animal("Buffalo", Set.of(grass), Collections.emptySet());
+    Animal lion = new Animal("Lion", Collections.emptySet(), Set.of(zebra, buffalo));
+
+    return new Forest("Amazon", Set.of(lion, buffalo, zebra), Set.of(grass, oak));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Serialize the input object using the input serializer and persist to DB. After this it loads
+   * the same object back from DB and deserializes using the same serializer.
+   *
+   * @param forest        Object to Serialize and Persist
+   * @param lobSerializer Serializer to Serialize and Deserialize Object
+   */
+  private static void executeSerializer(Forest forest, LobSerializer lobSerializer) {
+    try (LobSerializer serializer = lobSerializer) {
+
+      Object serialized = serializer.serialize(forest);
+      int id = serializer.persistToDb(1, forest.getName(), serialized);
+
+      Object fromDb = serializer.loadFromDb(id, Forest.class.getSimpleName());
+      Forest forestFromDb = serializer.deSerialize(fromDb);
+
+      LOGGER.info(forestFromDb.toString());
+    } catch (SQLException | IOException | TransformerException | ParserConfigurationException
+             | SAXException
+             | ClassNotFoundException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+    }
+  }
+}

slob/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/slob/dbservice/DatabaseService.java

@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob.dbservice;
+
+import java.sql.ResultSet;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+import javax.sql.DataSource;
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+import org.h2.jdbcx.JdbcDataSource;
+
+/**
+ * Service to handle database operations.
+ */
+@Slf4j
+public class DatabaseService {
+
+  public static final String CREATE_BINARY_SCHEMA_DDL =
+      "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS FORESTS (ID NUMBER UNIQUE, NAME VARCHAR(30),FOREST VARBINARY)";
+  public static final String CREATE_TEXT_SCHEMA_DDL =
+      "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS FORESTS (ID NUMBER UNIQUE, NAME VARCHAR(30),FOREST VARCHAR)";
+  public static final String DELETE_SCHEMA_SQL = "DROP TABLE FORESTS IF EXISTS";
+  public static final String BINARY_DATA = "BINARY";
+  private static final String DB_URL = "jdbc:h2:~/test";
+  private static final String INSERT = "insert into FORESTS (id,name, forest) values (?,?,?)";
+  private static final String SELECT = "select FOREST from FORESTS where id = ?";
+  private static final DataSource dataSource = createDataSource();
+  public String dataTypeDb;
+
+  /**
+   * Constructor initializes {@link DatabaseService#dataTypeDb}.
+   *
+   * @param dataTypeDb Type of data that is to be stored in DB can be 'TEXT' or 'BINARY'.
+   */
+  public DatabaseService(String dataTypeDb) {
+    this.dataTypeDb = dataTypeDb;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Initiates Data source.
+   *
+   * @return created data source
+   */
+  private static DataSource createDataSource() {
+    var dataSource = new JdbcDataSource();
+    dataSource.setURL(DB_URL);
+    return dataSource;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Shutdown Sequence executes Query {@link DatabaseService#DELETE_SCHEMA_SQL}.
+   *
+   * @throws SQLException if any issue occurs while executing DROP Query
+   */
+  public void shutDownService()
+      throws SQLException {
+    try (var connection = dataSource.getConnection();
+        var statement = connection.createStatement()) {
+      statement.execute(DELETE_SCHEMA_SQL);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Initaites startup sequence and executes the query
+   * {@link DatabaseService#CREATE_BINARY_SCHEMA_DDL} if {@link DatabaseService#dataTypeDb} is
+   * binary else will execute the query {@link DatabaseService#CREATE_TEXT_SCHEMA_DDL}.
+   *
+   * @throws SQLException if there are any issues during DDL execution
+   */
+  public void startupService()
+      throws SQLException {
+    try (var connection = dataSource.getConnection();
+        var statement = connection.createStatement()) {
+      if (dataTypeDb.equals("BINARY")) {
+        statement.execute(CREATE_BINARY_SCHEMA_DDL);
+      } else {
+        statement.execute(CREATE_TEXT_SCHEMA_DDL);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Executes the insert query {@link DatabaseService#INSERT}.
+   *
+   * @param id   with which row is to be inserted
+   * @param name name to be added in the row
+   * @param data object data to be saved in the row
+   * @throws SQLException if there are any issues in executing insert query
+   *                      {@link DatabaseService#INSERT}
+   */
+  public void insert(int id, String name, Object data)
+      throws SQLException {
+    try (var connection = dataSource.getConnection();
+        var insert = connection.prepareStatement(INSERT)) {
+      insert.setInt(1, id);
+      insert.setString(2, name);
+      insert.setObject(3, data);
+      insert.execute();
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Runs the select query {@link DatabaseService#SELECT} form the result set returns an
+   * {@link java.io.InputStream} if {@link DatabaseService#dataTypeDb} is 'binary' else will return
+   * the object as a {@link String}.
+   *
+   * @param id          with which row is to be selected
+   * @param columnsName column in which the object is stored
+   * @return object found from DB
+   * @throws SQLException if there are any issues in executing insert query *
+   *                      {@link DatabaseService#SELECT}
+   */
+  public Object select(final long id, String columnsName) throws SQLException {
+    ResultSet resultSet = null;
+    try (var connection = dataSource.getConnection();
+        var preparedStatement =
+            connection.prepareStatement(SELECT)
+    ) {
+      Object result = null;
+      preparedStatement.setLong(1, id);
+      resultSet = preparedStatement.executeQuery();
+      while (resultSet.next()) {
+        if (dataTypeDb.equals(BINARY_DATA)) {
+          result = resultSet.getBinaryStream(columnsName);
+        } else {
+          result = resultSet.getString(columnsName);
+        }
+      }
+      return result;
+    } finally {
+      if (resultSet != null) {
+        resultSet.close();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}

slob/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/slob/lob/Animal.java

@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob.lob;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Set;
+import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.Data;
+import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
+import org.w3c.dom.Document;
+import org.w3c.dom.Element;
+import org.w3c.dom.Node;
+import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;
+
+/**
+ * Creates an object Animal with a list of animals and/or plants it consumes.
+ */
+@Data
+@AllArgsConstructor
+@NoArgsConstructor
+public class Animal implements Serializable {
+
+  private String name;
+  private Set<Plant> plantsEaten = new HashSet<>();
+  private Set<Animal> animalsEaten = new HashSet<>();
+
+  /**
+   * Iterates over the input nodes recursively and adds new plants to {@link Animal#plantsEaten} or
+   * animals to {@link Animal#animalsEaten} found to input sets respectively.
+   *
+   * @param childNodes   contains the XML Node containing the Forest
+   * @param animalsEaten set of Animals eaten
+   * @param plantsEaten  set of Plants eaten
+   */
+  protected static void iterateXmlForAnimalAndPlants(NodeList childNodes, Set<Animal> animalsEaten,
+      Set<Plant> plantsEaten) {
+    for (int i = 0; i < childNodes.getLength(); i++) {
+      Node child = childNodes.item(i);
+      if (child.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
+        if (child.getNodeName().equals(Animal.class.getSimpleName())) {
+          Animal animalEaten = new Animal();
+          animalEaten.createObjectFromXml(child);
+          animalsEaten.add(animalEaten);
+        } else if (child.getNodeName().equals(Plant.class.getSimpleName())) {
+          Plant plant = new Plant();
+          plant.createObjectFromXml(child);
+          plantsEaten.add(plant);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Provides XML Representation of the Animal.
+   *
+   * @param xmlDoc object to which the XML representation is to be written to
+   * @return XML Element contain the Animal representation
+   */
+  public Element toXmlElement(Document xmlDoc) {
+    Element root = xmlDoc.createElement(Animal.class.getSimpleName());
+    root.setAttribute("name", name);
+    for (Plant plant : plantsEaten) {
+      Element xmlElement = plant.toXmlElement(xmlDoc);
+      if (xmlElement != null) {
+        root.appendChild(xmlElement);
+      }
+    }
+    for (Animal animal : animalsEaten) {
+      Element xmlElement = animal.toXmlElement(xmlDoc);
+      if (xmlElement != null) {
+        root.appendChild(xmlElement);
+      }
+    }
+    xmlDoc.appendChild(root);
+    return (Element) xmlDoc.getFirstChild();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Parses the Animal Object from the input XML Node.
+   *
+   * @param node the XML Node from which the Animal Object is to be parsed
+   */
+  public void createObjectFromXml(Node node) {
+    name = node.getAttributes().getNamedItem("name").getNodeValue();
+    NodeList childNodes = node.getChildNodes();
+    iterateXmlForAnimalAndPlants(childNodes, animalsEaten, plantsEaten);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public String toString() {
+    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+    sb.append("\nAnimal Name = ").append(name);
+    if (!animalsEaten.isEmpty()) {
+      sb.append("\n\tAnimals Eaten by ").append(name).append(": ");
+    }
+    for (Animal animal : animalsEaten) {
+      sb.append("\n\t\t").append(animal);
+    }
+    sb.append("\n");
+    if (!plantsEaten.isEmpty()) {
+      sb.append("\n\tPlants Eaten by ").append(name).append(": ");
+    }
+    for (Plant plant : plantsEaten) {
+      sb.append("\n\t\t").append(plant);
+    }
+    return sb.toString();
+  }
+}

slob/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/slob/lob/Forest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob.lob;
+
+import static com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Animal.iterateXmlForAnimalAndPlants;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Set;
+import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
+import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException;
+import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.Data;
+import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
+import org.w3c.dom.Document;
+import org.w3c.dom.Element;
+import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;
+
+/**
+ * Creates an object Forest which contains animals and plants as its constituents. Animals may eat
+ * plants or other animals in the forest.
+ */
+@Data
+@NoArgsConstructor
+@AllArgsConstructor
+public class Forest implements Serializable {
+
+  private String name;
+  private Set<Animal> animals = new HashSet<>();
+  private Set<Plant> plants = new HashSet<>();
+
+  /**
+   * Provides the representation of Forest in XML form.
+   *
+   * @return XML Element
+   */
+  public Element toXmlElement() throws ParserConfigurationException {
+    Document xmlDoc = getXmlDoc();
+
+    Element forestXml = xmlDoc.createElement("Forest");
+    forestXml.setAttribute("name", name);
+
+    Element animalsXml = xmlDoc.createElement("Animals");
+    for (Animal animal : animals) {
+      Element animalXml = animal.toXmlElement(xmlDoc);
+      animalsXml.appendChild(animalXml);
+    }
+    forestXml.appendChild(animalsXml);
+
+    Element plantsXml = xmlDoc.createElement("Plants");
+    for (Plant plant : plants) {
+      Element plantXml = plant.toXmlElement(xmlDoc);
+      plantsXml.appendChild(plantXml);
+    }
+    forestXml.appendChild(plantsXml);
+    return forestXml;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns XMLDoc to use for XML creation.
+   *
+   * @return XML DOC Object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException {@inheritDoc}
+   */
+  private Document getXmlDoc() throws ParserConfigurationException {
+    return DocumentBuilderFactory.newDefaultInstance().newDocumentBuilder().newDocument();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Parses the Forest Object from the input XML Document.
+   *
+   * @param document the XML document from which the Forest is to be parsed
+   */
+  public void createObjectFromXml(Document document) {
+    name = document.getDocumentElement().getAttribute("name");
+    NodeList nodeList = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
+    iterateXmlForAnimalAndPlants(nodeList, animals, plants);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public String toString() {
+    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("\n");
+    sb.append("Forest Name = ").append(name).append("\n");
+    sb.append("Animals found in the ").append(name).append(" Forest: \n");
+    for (Animal animal : animals) {
+      sb.append("\n--------------------------\n");
+      sb.append(animal.toString());
+      sb.append("\n--------------------------\n");
+    }
+    sb.append("\n");
+    sb.append("Plants in the ").append(name).append(" Forest: \n");
+    for (Plant plant : plants) {
+      sb.append("\n--------------------------\n");
+      sb.append(plant.toString());
+      sb.append("\n--------------------------\n");
+    }
+    return sb.toString();
+  }
+}

slob/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/slob/lob/Plant.java

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob.lob;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.util.StringJoiner;
+import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.Data;
+import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
+import org.w3c.dom.Document;
+import org.w3c.dom.Element;
+import org.w3c.dom.NamedNodeMap;
+import org.w3c.dom.Node;
+
+/**
+ * Creates an object Plant which contains its name and type.
+ */
+@Data
+@AllArgsConstructor
+@NoArgsConstructor
+public class Plant implements Serializable {
+
+  private String name;
+  private String type;
+
+  /**
+   * Provides XML Representation of the Plant.
+   *
+   * @param xmlDoc to which the XML representation is to be written to
+   * @return XML Element contain the Animal representation
+   */
+  public Element toXmlElement(Document xmlDoc) {
+    Element root = xmlDoc.createElement(Plant.class.getSimpleName());
+    root.setAttribute("name", name);
+    root.setAttribute("type", type);
+    xmlDoc.appendChild(root);
+    return xmlDoc.getDocumentElement();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Parses the Plant Object from the input XML Node.
+   *
+   * @param node the XML Node from which the Animal Object is to be parsed
+   */
+  public void createObjectFromXml(Node node) {
+    NamedNodeMap attributes = node.getAttributes();
+    name = attributes.getNamedItem("name").getNodeValue();
+    type = attributes.getNamedItem("type").getNodeValue();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public String toString() {
+    StringJoiner stringJoiner = new StringJoiner(",");
+    stringJoiner.add("Name = " + name);
+    stringJoiner.add("Type = " + type);
+    return stringJoiner.toString();
+  }
+}

slob/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/slob/serializers/BlobSerializer.java

@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob.serializers;
+
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Forest;
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.ObjectInput;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+
+/**
+ * Creates a Serializer that uses Binary serialization and deserialization of objects graph to and
+ * from their Binary Representation.
+ */
+public class BlobSerializer extends LobSerializer {
+
+  public static final String TYPE_OF_DATA_FOR_DB = "BINARY";
+
+  public BlobSerializer() throws SQLException {
+    super(TYPE_OF_DATA_FOR_DB);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Serializes the input object graph to its Binary Representation using Object Stream.
+   *
+   * @param toSerialize Object which is to be serialized
+   * @return Serialized object
+   * @throws IOException {@inheritDoc}
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Object serialize(Forest toSerialize) throws IOException {
+    ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+    ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(baos);
+    oos.writeObject(toSerialize);
+    oos.close();
+    return new ByteArrayInputStream(baos.toByteArray());
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Deserializes the input Byte Array Stream using Object Stream and return its Object Graph
+   * Representation.
+   *
+   * @param toDeserialize Input Object to De-serialize
+   * @return Deserialized Object
+   * @throws ClassNotFoundException {@inheritDoc}
+   * @throws IOException            {@inheritDoc}
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Forest deSerialize(Object toDeserialize) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+    InputStream bis = (InputStream) toDeserialize;
+    Forest forest;
+    try (ObjectInput in = new ObjectInputStream(bis)) {
+      forest = (Forest) in.readObject();
+    }
+    return forest;
+  }
+}

slob/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/slob/serializers/ClobSerializer.java

@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob.serializers;
+
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Forest;
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder;
+import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
+import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException;
+import javax.xml.transform.OutputKeys;
+import javax.xml.transform.Transformer;
+import javax.xml.transform.TransformerException;
+import javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory;
+import javax.xml.transform.dom.DOMSource;
+import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult;
+import org.w3c.dom.Document;
+import org.w3c.dom.Element;
+import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
+
+/**
+ * Creates a Serializer that uses Character based serialization and deserialization of objects graph
+ * to and from XML Representation.
+ */
+public class ClobSerializer extends LobSerializer {
+
+  public static final String TYPE_OF_DATA_FOR_DB = "TEXT";
+
+  public ClobSerializer() throws SQLException {
+    super(TYPE_OF_DATA_FOR_DB);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Converts the input node to its XML String Representation.
+   *
+   * @param node XML Node that is to be converted to string
+   * @return String representation of XML parsed from the Node
+   * @throws TransformerException If any issues occur in Transformation from Node to XML
+   */
+  private static String elementToXmlString(Element node) throws TransformerException {
+    StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
+    Transformer t = TransformerFactory.newDefaultInstance().newTransformer();
+    t.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.OMIT_XML_DECLARATION, "no");
+    t.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.INDENT, "yes");
+    t.transform(new DOMSource(node), new StreamResult(sw));
+    return sw.toString();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Serializes the input object graph to its XML Representation using DOM Elements.
+   *
+   * @param forest Object which is to be serialized
+   * @return Serialized object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException If any issues occur in parsing input object
+   * @throws TransformerException         If any issues occur in Transformation from Node to XML
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Object serialize(Forest forest) throws ParserConfigurationException, TransformerException {
+    Element xmlElement = forest.toXmlElement();
+    return elementToXmlString(xmlElement);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Deserializes the input XML string using DOM Parser and return its Object Graph Representation.
+   *
+   * @param toDeserialize Input Object to De-serialize
+   * @return Deserialized Object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException If any issues occur in parsing input object
+   * @throws IOException                  if any issues occur during reading object
+   * @throws SAXException                 If any issues occur in Transformation from Node to XML
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Forest deSerialize(Object toDeserialize)
+      throws ParserConfigurationException, IOException, SAXException {
+    DocumentBuilder documentBuilder = DocumentBuilderFactory.newDefaultInstance()
+        .newDocumentBuilder();
+    var stream = new ByteArrayInputStream(toDeserialize.toString().getBytes());
+    Document parsed = documentBuilder.parse(stream);
+    Forest forest = new Forest();
+    forest.createObjectFromXml(parsed);
+    return forest;
+  }
+}

slob/src/main/java/com/iluwatar/slob/serializers/LobSerializer.java

@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob.serializers;
+
+import com.iluwatar.slob.dbservice.DatabaseService;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Forest;
+import java.io.Closeable;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException;
+import javax.xml.transform.TransformerException;
+import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
+
+/**
+ * A LobSerializer can be used to create an instance of a serializer which can serialize and
+ * deserialize an object and persist and load that object into a DB. from their Binary
+ * Representation.
+ */
+public abstract class LobSerializer implements Serializable, Closeable {
+
+  private final transient DatabaseService databaseService;
+
+  /**
+   * Constructor initializes {@link LobSerializer#databaseService}.
+   *
+   * @param dataTypeDb Input provides type of Data to be stored by the Data Base Service
+   * @throws SQLException If any issue occurs during instantiation of DB Service or during startup.
+   */
+  protected LobSerializer(String dataTypeDb) throws SQLException {
+    databaseService = new DatabaseService(dataTypeDb);
+    databaseService.startupService();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Provides the specification to Serialize the input object.
+   *
+   * @param toSerialize Input Object to serialize
+   * @return Serialized Object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException if any issue occurs during parsing of input object
+   * @throws TransformerException         if any issue occurs during Transformation
+   * @throws IOException                  if any issues occur during reading object
+   */
+  public abstract Object serialize(Forest toSerialize)
+      throws ParserConfigurationException, TransformerException, IOException;
+
+  /**
+   * Saves the object to DB with the provided ID.
+   *
+   * @param id     key to be sent to DB service
+   * @param name   Object name to store in DB
+   * @param object Object to store in DB
+   * @return ID with which the object is stored in DB
+   * @throws SQLException if any issue occurs while saving to DB
+   */
+  public int persistToDb(int id, String name, Object object) throws SQLException {
+    databaseService.insert(id, name, object);
+    return id;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Loads the object from db using the ID and column name.
+   *
+   * @param id         to query the DB
+   * @param columnName column from which object is to be extracted
+   * @return Object from DB
+   * @throws SQLException if any issue occurs while loading from DB
+   */
+  public Object loadFromDb(int id, String columnName) throws SQLException {
+    return databaseService.select(id, columnName);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Provides the specification to Deserialize the input object.
+   *
+   * @param toDeserialize object to deserialize
+   * @return Deserialized Object
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException If issue occurs during parsing of input object
+   * @throws IOException                  if any issues occur during reading object
+   * @throws SAXException                 if any issues occur during reading object for XML parsing
+   */
+  public abstract Forest deSerialize(Object toDeserialize)
+      throws ParserConfigurationException, IOException, SAXException, ClassNotFoundException;
+
+  @Override
+  public void close() {
+    try {
+      databaseService.shutDownService();
+    } catch (SQLException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+    }
+  }
+}

slob/src/test/java/com/iluwatar/slob/AppTest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+/*
+ * This project is licensed under the MIT license. Module model-view-viewmodel is using ZK framework licensed under LGPL (see lgpl-3.0.txt).
+ *
+ * The MIT License
+ * Copyright © 2014-2022 Ilkka Seppälä
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.iluwatar.slob;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertDoesNotThrow;
+
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Animal;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Forest;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.lob.Plant;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.serializers.BlobSerializer;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.serializers.ClobSerializer;
+import com.iluwatar.slob.serializers.LobSerializer;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Set;
+import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException;
+import javax.xml.transform.TransformerException;
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
+
+/**
+ * SLOB Application test
+ */
+@Slf4j
+class AppTest {
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a Forest with Animals and Plants along with their respective relationships.
+   * <p> The method creates a forest with 2 Plants Grass and Oak of type Herb and tree
+   * respectively.</p>
+   * <p> It also creates 3 animals Zebra and Buffalo which eat the plant grass. Lion consumes the
+   * Zebra and the Buffalo.</p>
+   * <p>With the above animals and plants and their relationships a forest
+   * object is created which represents the Object Graph.</p>
+   *
+   * @return Forest Object
+   */
+  private static Forest createForest() {
+    Plant grass = new Plant("Grass", "Herb");
+    Plant oak = new Plant("Oak", "Tree");
+
+    Animal zebra = new Animal("Zebra", Set.of(grass), Collections.emptySet());
+    Animal buffalo = new Animal("Buffalo", Set.of(grass), Collections.emptySet());
+    Animal lion = new Animal("Lion", Collections.emptySet(), Set.of(zebra, buffalo));
+
+    return new Forest("Amazon", Set.of(lion, buffalo, zebra), Set.of(grass, oak));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Tests the {@link App} without passing any argument in the args to test the
+   * {@link ClobSerializer}.
+   */
+  @Test
+  void shouldExecuteWithoutExceptionClob() {
+    assertDoesNotThrow(() -> App.main(new String[]{"CLOB"}));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Tests the {@link App} without passing any argument in the args to test the
+   * {@link BlobSerializer}.
+   */
+  @Test
+  void shouldExecuteWithoutExceptionBlob() {
+    assertDoesNotThrow(() -> App.main(new String[]{}));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Tests the serialization of the input object using the {@link ClobSerializer} and persists the
+   * serialized object to DB, then load the object back from DB and deserializes it using the
+   * provided {@link ClobSerializer}.<p>After loading the object back from DB the test matches the
+   * hash of the input object with the hash of the object that was loaded from DB and deserialized.
+   */
+  @Test
+  void clobSerializerTest() {
+    Forest forest = createForest();
+    try (LobSerializer serializer = new ClobSerializer()) {
+
+      Object serialized = serializer.serialize(forest);
+      int id = serializer.persistToDb(1, forest.getName(), serialized);
+
+      Object fromDb = serializer.loadFromDb(id, Forest.class.getSimpleName());
+      Forest forestFromDb = serializer.deSerialize(fromDb);
+
+      Assertions.assertEquals(forest.hashCode(), forestFromDb.hashCode(),
+          "Hashes of objects after Serializing and Deserializing are the same");
+    } catch (SQLException | IOException | TransformerException | ParserConfigurationException |
+             SAXException |
+             ClassNotFoundException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Tests the serialization of the input object using the {@link BlobSerializer} and persists the
+   * serialized object to DB, then loads the object back from DB and deserializes it using the
+   * {@link BlobSerializer}.<p>After loading the object back from DB the test matches the hash of
+   * the input object with the hash of the object that was loaded from DB and deserialized.
+   */
+  @Test
+  void blobSerializerTest() {
+    Forest forest = createForest();
+    try (LobSerializer serializer = new BlobSerializer()) {
+
+      Object serialized = serializer.serialize(forest);
+      int id = serializer.persistToDb(1, forest.getName(), serialized);
+
+      Object fromDb = serializer.loadFromDb(id, Forest.class.getSimpleName());
+      Forest forestFromDb = serializer.deSerialize(fromDb);
+
+      Assertions.assertEquals(forest.hashCode(), forestFromDb.hashCode(),
+          "Hashes of objects after Serializing and Deserializing are the same");
+    } catch (SQLException | IOException | TransformerException | ParserConfigurationException |
+             SAXException |
+             ClassNotFoundException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+    }
+  }
+}