You could avoid the “lack of type safety” and “not enough information” problems by using java.lang.String constants. For example, you might specify static final String DIR_NORTH = "NORTH";.

Learn how to create, access, modify, compare, and convert strings in Java using the String class methods and features. This article covers the basics and advanced topics of strings.

Enum Serialization and Deserialization in Java Serialization: By default, Java serializes enums using their name() method, storing the enum constant's name as a string.

In their 2009 JavaOne presentation Return of the Puzzlers: Schlock and Awe ( PDF ), Joshua Bloch and Neal Gafter presented seven more puzzlers and extracted lessons learned from each of these ...