It depends on what data structure you would like to have in your java representation. There are 3 options you can choose from:
Option 1 List or List<Object> (Actualy Objects would be LinkedHashMap, String, ArrayList)
new Gson().fromJson(JSON, ParentPOJO.class);
private static class ParentPOJO{
public List<Object> arguments;
}
Option 2 Custom MyListClass with custom deserializer for MyListClass where MyListClass extends ArrayList This way you can contol deserialization and choose appropriate data type for you objects. This will give you MyListClass extends ArrayList containing MyClass, ArrayList and String. Demo below.
public static void main(String[] args) {
Gson gson = new GsonBuilder().registerTypeAdapter(MyListClass.class, new CustomDeserializer()).create();
map = gson.fromJson(JSON, ParentPOJO.class);
}
private static class ParentPOJO{
public MyListClass arguments;
}
private static class MyListClass extends ArrayList{}
private static class CustomDeserializer implements JsonDeserializer{
@Override
public Object deserialize(JsonElement json, Type typeOfT, JsonDeserializationContext context) throws JsonParseException {
MyListClass list = null;
if (json.isJsonArray()){
list = new MyListClass();
JsonArray array = json.getAsJsonArray();
for(int i = 0; i< array.size();i++){
Object next = parseNext(array.get(i),context);
list.add(next);
}
}
return list;
}
private Object parseNext(JsonElement json, JsonDeserializationContext context){
if (json.isJsonArray()){
return context.deserialize(json, Object.class);//can change object type if you know it
}else if(json.isJsonPrimitive()){
return json.getAsJsonPrimitive().getAsString();
}else if(json.isJsonObject()){
return context.deserialize(json, MyClass.class);
}
return null;
}
}
public class MyClass {
@SerializedName("codes")
private List<String> codes = new ArrayList<String>();
@SerializedName("arguments")
private Object arguments;
@SerializedName("defaultMessage")
private String defaultMessage;
@SerializedName("code")
private String code;
}
Option 3 is almost exactly the same, but MyPOJOClass instead of MyListClass just change deserializer, add fields to your MyPOJOClass and map json array to pojo fields in deserializer. Will also have to create custom serializer if you choose 3-d option of custom MyPOJOClass
If you have multiple objects of the same type in your json array you will have to come up with some sort of algorithm to resolve them in deserializer.
