Jackson - custom serializer that overrides only specific fields

In case you don't want to pollute your model with annotations, you could use mixins.

ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule simpleModule = new SimpleModule();
simpleModule.setMixInAnnotation(Student.class, StudentMixin.class);
mapper.registerModule(simpleModule);

And you want to override id field for example:

public abstract class StudentMixin {
    @JsonSerialize(using = StudentIdSerializer.class)
    public String id;
}

Do whatever you need with the field:

public class StudentIdSerializer extends JsonSerializer<Integer> {
    @Override
    public void serialize(Integer integer, JsonGenerator jsonGenerator, SerializerProvider serializerProvider) throws IOException {
        jsonGenerator.writeString(String.valueOf(integer * 2));
    }
}

Just because you can not modify classes DOES NOT mean you could not use annotations: just use mix-in annotations. See this blog entry for example (or google for more with "jackson mixin annotations") for how to use this.

I have specifically used Jackson with protobuf- and thrift-generated classes, and they work pretty well. For earlier Thrift versions, I had to disable discovery of "is-setters", methods Thrift generates to see if a specific property has been explicitly set, but otherwise things worked fine.

I faced the same issue, and I solved it with CustomSerializerFactory.

This approach allows you to ignore some specific field for either for all objects, or for specific types.

public class EntityCustomSerializationFactory extends CustomSerializerFactory {

    //ignored fields
    private static final Set<String> IGNORED_FIELDS = new HashSet<String>(
            Arrays.asList(
                    "class",
                    "value",
                    "some"
            )
    );


    public EntityCustomSerializationFactory() {
        super();
    }

    public EntityCustomSerializationFactory(Config config) {
        super(config);
    }

    @Override
    protected void processViews(SerializationConfig config, BeanSerializerBuilder builder) {
        super.processViews(config, builder);

        //ignore fields only for concrete class
        //note, that you can avoid or change this check
        if (builder.getBeanDescription().getBeanClass().equals(Entity.class)){
            //get original writer
            List<BeanPropertyWriter> originalWriters = builder.getProperties();

            //create actual writers
            List<BeanPropertyWriter> writers = new ArrayList<BeanPropertyWriter>();

            for (BeanPropertyWriter writer: originalWriters){
                String propName = writer.getName();

                //if it isn't ignored field, add to actual writers list
                if (!IGNORED_FIELDS.contains(propName)){
                    writers.add(writer);
                }
            }

            builder.setProperties(writers);
        }

    }
}

And afterwards you can use it something like the following:

objectMapper.setSerializerFactory(new EntityCustomSerializationFactory());
objectMapper.writeValueAsString(new Entity());//response will be without ignored fields

Assuming your Target class is

public class Student {
    int age;
    String firstName;
    String lastName;
    double average;
    int numSubjects;

    public int getAge() {
        return age;
    }

    public void setAge(int age) {
        this.age = age;
    }

    public String getFirstName() {
        return firstName;
    }

    public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
    }

    public String getLastName() {
        return lastName;
    }

    public void setLastName(String lastName) {
        this.lastName = lastName;
    }

    public double getAverage() {
        return average;
    }

    public void setAverage(double average) {
        this.average = average;
    }

    public int getNumSubjects() {
        return numSubjects;
    }

    public void setNumSubjects(int numSubjects) {
        this.numSubjects = numSubjects;
    }

}

You need to write a custom serializer as given below

public class MyCustomSerializer extends JsonSerializer<Student> {

    @Override
    public void serialize(Student value, JsonGenerator jgen,
            SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException,
            JsonProcessingException {
        if (value != null) {
            jgen.writeStartObject();
            jgen.writeStringField("age", "Age: " + value.getAge()); //Here a custom way to render age field is used
            jgen.writeStringField("firstName", value.getFirstName());
            jgen.writeStringField("lastName", value.getLastName());
            jgen.writeNumberField("average", value.getAverage());
            jgen.writeNumberField("numSubjects", value.getNumSubjects());
            //Write other properties
            jgen.writeEndObject();
        }
    }

}

then add it to the ObjectMapper

ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule("custom",
        Version.unknownVersion());
module.addSerializer(Student.class, new MyCustomSerializer());
mapper.registerModule(module);

then use it like

Student s = new Student();
s.setAge(2);
s.setAverage(3.4);
s.setFirstName("first");
s.setLastName("last");
s.setNumSubjects(3);

StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
mapper.writeValue(sw, s);
System.out.println(sw.toString());

It will produce a o/p like

{"age":"Age: 2","firstName":"first","lastName":"last","average":3.4,"numSubjects":3}