Person person = new Person("123", "John"); XStream xstream = new XStream(); String xml = xstream.toXML(person); System.out.println(xml); String xml = "<person><id>123</id><name>John</name></person>"; XStream xstream = new XStream(); Person person = (Person) xstream.fromXML(xml); System.out.println(person.getId()); System.out.println(person.getName());