Question

what is meant by giving a variable within a class variable a transient attribute?

Answer 1

The transient keyword in Java is used to indicate that a field should not be serialized. Usually in such fields stored intermediate state of the object, which, for example, it is easier to calculate than the serialize and then deserialize. Another example of such a field - a reference to an instance of an object that does not require serialization or can not be serialized.