Wouldn't enums still be a problem in that they would require user type definitions and, hence, a class loader? I agree that they could easily be coded to and decoded from a String, but what of the case where there are 2 enums with the same values, e.g., | enum Type1{A, B, C} | | enum Type2{A, B, C} | | assert Type1.A.toString().equals(Type2.A.toString()); | View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4117192#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...