ArrayList中elementData为什么被transient修饰？

       Java的ArrayList中,定义了一个数组elementData用来装载对象的，具体定义如下：

/**
 * The array buffer into which the elements of the ArrayList are stored.
 * The capacity of the ArrayList is the length of this array buffer. Any
 * empty ArrayList with elementData == DEFAULTCAPACITY_EMPTY_ELEMENTDATA
 * will be expanded to DEFAULT_CAPACITY when the first element is added.
 */
transient Object[] elementData; // non-private to simplify nested class access

       transient用来表示一个域不是该对象序行化的一部分，当一个对象被序行化的时候，transient修饰的变量的值是不包括在序行化的表示中的。但是ArrayList又是可序行化的类，elementData是ArrayList具体存放元素的成员，用transient来修饰elementData，岂不是反序列化后的ArrayList丢失了原先的元素？
       其实玄机在于ArrayList中的两个方法：

/**
 * Save the state of the <tt>ArrayList</tt> instance to a stream (that
 * is, serialize it).
 *
 * @serialData The length of the array backing the <tt>ArrayList</tt>
 *             instance is emitted (int), followed by all of its elements
 *             (each an <tt>Object</tt>) in the proper order.
 */
private void writeObject(java.io.ObjectOutputStream s)
    throws java.io.IOException{
    // Write out element count, and any hidden stuff
    int expectedModCount = modCount;
    s.defaultWriteObject();

    // Write out size as capacity for behavioural compatibility with clone()
    s.writeInt(size);

    // Write out all elements in the proper order.
    for (int i=0; i<size; i++) {
        s.writeObject(elementData[i]);
    }

    if (modCount != expectedModCount) {
        throw new ConcurrentModificationException();
    }
}

/**
 * Reconstitute the <tt>ArrayList</tt> instance from a stream (that is,
 * deserialize it).
 */
private void readObject(java.io.ObjectInputStream s)
    throws java.io.IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
    elementData = EMPTY_ELEMENTDATA;

    // Read in size, and any hidden stuff
    s.defaultReadObject();

    // Read in capacity
    s.readInt(); // ignored

    if (size > 0) {
        // be like clone(), allocate array based upon size not capacity
        ensureCapacityInternal(size);

        Object[] a = elementData;
        // Read in all elements in the proper order.
        for (int i=0; i<size; i++) {
            a[i] = s.readObject();
        }
    }
}

       ArrayList在序列化的时候会调用writeObject，直接将size和element写入ObjectOutputStream；反序列化时调用readObject，从ObjectInputStream获取size和element，再恢复到elementData。
       为什么不直接用elementData来序列化，而采用上诉的方式来实现序列化呢？原因在于elementData是一个缓存数组，它通常会预留一些容量，等容量不足时再扩充容量，那么有些空间可能就没有实际存储元素，采用上诉的方式来实现序列化时，就可以保证只序列化实际存储的那些元素，而不是整个数组，从而节省空间和时间。