DeterministicKey::serializePublic and serializePrivate are deprecated without giving a migration path

[Polve]

In version 0.16.2 the two methods are deprecated but it's not clear (at least to me) what I should use in place of them since the serialize() method is private

[msgilligan]

For deserialize there are static methods:
https://bitcoinj.org/javadoc/0.16.2/org/bitcoinj/crypto/DeterministicKey.html#deserialize(org.bitcoinj.core.NetworkParameters,byte%5B%5D)

For serialize there are getPrivKeyBytes and getSecretBytes

Note that in 0.17 we will be migrating from NetworkParameters to the new Network enum and there will be more deprecations. But the methods I mentioned above still exist in 0.17.

[Polve]

I'm sorry I don't understand: while I know how to get the private bytes, how do I call serialize on them?

[msgilligan]

At present, it seems to me, you have 3 options:

1. Continue using the deprecated method.
2. Serialize to a Base58 string.
3. Write your own serialization with the private bytes.

What is your use case? If it's something we overlooked we would consider adding a replacement method in 0.17.

[Polve]

An old library I need to mantain has a different way to serialize to b58 so I need the serialized bytes.

Anyway if it's not planned a replacement I can go with solution 2, it seems viable, thanks.

[schildbach]

For reference, the methods were removed via 5ae7a42.

[schildbach]

I think if you've got your own (non-standard) serialization format for deterministic keys, you should implement that format from scratch, so basically copy and adapt the private byte[] serialize(Network network, boolean pub, ScriptType outputScriptType) method to your needs.