code: public static <T extends Serializable> byte[] serialize(T ser)
      throws IOException
    {
      ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
      ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(baos);
      try
      {
        oos.writeObject(ser);
      }
      finally
      {
        oos.close();
      }
      return baos.toByteArray();
    }
docs: Turns the object into a <code>byte[]</code> by serializing it in memory.
  
  @param ser the serializable object
  @exception IOException if there is a problem in the serialization step