diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/MapAsArrayTypeAdapter.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/MapAsArrayTypeAdapter.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..80cd6900
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+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/MapAsArrayTypeAdapter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 Google Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.gson;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType;
+import java.lang.reflect.Type;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+/**
+ * Adapts maps containing complex keys as arrays of map entries.
+ *
+ * <h3>Maps as JSON objects</h3>
+ * The standard GSON map type adapter converts Java {@link Map Maps} to JSON
+ * Objects. This requires that map keys can be serialized as strings; this is
+ * insufficient for some key types. For example, consider a map whose keys are
+ * points on a grid. The default JSON form encodes reasonably: <pre>   {@code
+ *   Map<Point, String> original = new LinkedHashMap<Point, String>();
+ *   original.put(new Point(5, 6), "a");
+ *   original.put(new Point(8, 8), "b");
+ *   System.out.println(gson.toJson(original, type));
+ * }</pre>
+ * The above code prints this JSON object:<pre>   {@code
+ *   {
+ *     "(5,6)": "a",
+ *     "(8,8)": "b"
+ *   }
+ * }</pre>
+ * But GSON is unable to deserialize this value because the JSON string name is
+ * just the {@link Object#toString() toString()} of the map key. Attempting to
+ * convert the above JSON to an object fails with a parse exception:
+ * <pre>com.google.gson.JsonParseException: Expecting object found: "(5,6)"
+ *   at com.google.gson.JsonObjectDeserializationVisitor.visitFieldUsingCustomHandler
+ *   at com.google.gson.ObjectNavigator.navigateClassFields
+ *   ...</pre>
+ *
+ * <h3>Maps as JSON arrays</h3>
+ * An alternative approach taken by this type adapter is to encode maps as
+ * arrays of map entries. Each map entry is a two element array containing a key
+ * and a value. This approach is more flexible because any type can be used as
+ * the map's key; not just strings. But it's also less portable because the
+ * receiver of such JSON must be aware of the map entry convention.
+ *
+ * <p>Register this adapter when you are creating your GSON instance.
+ * <pre>   {@code
+ *   Gson gson = new GsonBuilder()
+ *     .registerTypeAdapter(Map.class, new MapAsArrayTypeAdapter())
+ *     .create();
+ * }</pre>
+ * This will change the structure of the JSON emitted by the code above. Now we
+ * get an array. In this case the arrays elements are map entries:
+ * <pre>   {@code
+ *   [
+ *     [
+ *       {
+ *         "x": 5,
+ *         "y": 6
+ *       },
+ *       "a",
+ *     ],
+ *     [
+ *       {
+ *         "x": 8,
+ *         "y": 8
+ *       },
+ *       "b"
+ *     ]
+ *   ]
+ * }</pre>
+ * This format will serialize and deserialize just fine as long as this adapter
+ * is registered.
+ *
+ * <p>This adapter returns regular JSON objects for maps whose keys are not
+ * complex. A key is complex if its JSON-serialized form is an array or an
+ * object.
+ */
+public final class MapAsArrayTypeAdapter
+    implements JsonSerializer<Map<?, ?>>, JsonDeserializer<Map<?, ?>> {
+
+  public Map<?, ?> deserialize(JsonElement json, Type typeOfT,
+      JsonDeserializationContext context) throws JsonParseException {
+    Map<Object, Object> result = new LinkedHashMap<Object, Object>();
+    Type[] keyAndValueType = typeToTypeArguments(typeOfT);
+    if (json.isJsonArray()) {
+      JsonArray array = json.getAsJsonArray();
+      for (int i = 0; i < array.size(); i++) {
+        JsonArray entryArray = array.get(i).getAsJsonArray();
+        Object k = context.deserialize(entryArray.get(0), keyAndValueType[0]);
+        Object v = context.deserialize(entryArray.get(1), keyAndValueType[1]);
+        result.put(k, v);
+      }
+      checkSize(array, array.size(), result, result.size());
+    } else {
+      JsonObject object = json.getAsJsonObject();
+      for (Map.Entry<String, JsonElement> entry : object.entrySet()) {
+        Object k = context.deserialize(new JsonPrimitive(entry.getKey()), keyAndValueType[0]);
+        Object v = context.deserialize(entry.getValue(), keyAndValueType[1]);
+        result.put(k, v);
+      }
+      checkSize(object, object.entrySet().size(), result, result.size());
+    }
+    return result;
+  }
+
+  public JsonElement serialize(Map<?, ?> src, Type typeOfSrc, JsonSerializationContext context) {
+    Type[] keyAndValueType = typeToTypeArguments(typeOfSrc);
+    boolean serializeAsArray = false;
+    List<JsonElement> keysAndValues = new ArrayList<JsonElement>();
+    for (Map.Entry<?, ?> entry : src.entrySet()) {
+      JsonElement key = context.serialize(entry.getKey(), keyAndValueType[0]);
+      serializeAsArray |= key.isJsonObject() || key.isJsonArray();
+      keysAndValues.add(key);
+      keysAndValues.add(context.serialize(entry.getValue(), keyAndValueType[1]));
+    }
+
+    if (serializeAsArray) {
+      JsonArray result = new JsonArray();
+      for (int i = 0; i < keysAndValues.size(); i+=2) {
+        JsonArray entryArray = new JsonArray();
+        entryArray.add(keysAndValues.get(i));
+        entryArray.add(keysAndValues.get(i + 1));
+        result.add(entryArray);
+      }
+      return result;
+    } else {
+      JsonObject result = new JsonObject();
+      for (int i = 0; i < keysAndValues.size(); i+=2) {
+        result.add(keysAndValues.get(i).getAsString(), keysAndValues.get(i + 1));
+      }
+      checkSize(src, src.size(), result, result.entrySet().size());
+      return result;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private Type[] typeToTypeArguments(Type typeOfT) {
+    if (typeOfT instanceof ParameterizedType) {
+      Type[] typeArguments = ((ParameterizedType) typeOfT).getActualTypeArguments();
+      if (typeArguments.length != 2) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("MapAsArrayTypeAdapter cannot handle " + typeOfT);
+      }
+      return typeArguments;
+    }
+    return new Type[] { Object.class, Object.class };
+  }
+
+  private void checkSize(Object input, int inputSize, Object output, int outputSize) {
+    if (inputSize != outputSize) {
+      throw new JsonSyntaxException("Input size " + inputSize + " != output size " + outputSize
+          + " for input " + input + " and output " + output);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/functional/MapAsArrayTypeAdapterTest.java b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/functional/MapAsArrayTypeAdapterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..04541a4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/functional/MapAsArrayTypeAdapterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 Google Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.gson.functional;
+
+import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder;
+import com.google.gson.JsonSyntaxException;
+import com.google.gson.MapAsArrayTypeAdapter;
+import com.google.gson.reflect.TypeToken;
+import java.lang.reflect.Type;
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+import junit.framework.TestCase;
+
+public class MapAsArrayTypeAdapterTest extends TestCase {
+
+  public void testSerializeComplexMapWithTypeAdapter() {
+    Type type = new TypeToken<Map<Point, String>>() {}.getType();
+    Gson gson = new GsonBuilder()
+        .registerTypeAdapter(Map.class, new MapAsArrayTypeAdapter())
+        .create();
+
+    Map<Point, String> original = new LinkedHashMap<Point, String>();
+    original.put(new Point(5, 5), "a");
+    original.put(new Point(8, 8), "b");
+    String json = gson.toJson(original, type);
+    assertEquals("[[{\"x\":5,\"y\":5},\"a\"],[{\"x\":8,\"y\":8},\"b\"]]", json);
+    assertEquals(original, gson.<Map<Point, String>>fromJson(json, type));
+
+    // test that registering a type adapter for one map doesn't interfere with others
+    Map<String, Boolean> otherMap = new LinkedHashMap<String, Boolean>();
+    otherMap.put("t", true);
+    otherMap.put("f", false);
+    assertEquals("{\"t\":true,\"f\":false}",
+        gson.toJson(otherMap, Map.class));
+    assertEquals("{\"t\":true,\"f\":false}",
+        gson.toJson(otherMap, new TypeToken<Map<String, Boolean>>() {}.getType()));
+    assertEquals(otherMap, gson.<Object>fromJson("{\"t\":true,\"f\":false}",
+        new TypeToken<Map<String, Boolean>>() {}.getType()));
+  }
+
+  public void testTwoTypesCollapseToOneSerialize() {
+    Gson gson = new GsonBuilder()
+        .registerTypeAdapter(Map.class, new MapAsArrayTypeAdapter())
+        .create();
+
+    Map<Number, String> original = new LinkedHashMap<Number, String>();
+    original.put(new Double(1.0), "a");
+    original.put(new Float(1.0), "b");
+    try {
+      gson.toJson(original, new TypeToken<Map<Number, String>>() {}.getType());
+      fail();
+    } catch (JsonSyntaxException expected) {
+    }
+  }
+
+  public void testTwoTypesCollapseToOneDeserialize() {
+    Gson gson = new GsonBuilder()
+        .registerTypeAdapter(Map.class, new MapAsArrayTypeAdapter())
+        .create();
+
+    String s = "[[\"1.00\",\"a\"],[\"1.0\",\"b\"]]";
+    try {
+      gson.fromJson(s, new TypeToken<Map<Double, String>>() {}.getType());
+      fail();
+    } catch (JsonSyntaxException expected) {
+    }
+  }
+
+  static class Point {
+    int x;
+    int y;
+    Point(int x, int y) {
+      this.x = x;
+      this.y = y;
+    }
+    Point() {}
+    @Override public boolean equals(Object o) {
+      return o instanceof Point && ((Point) o).x == x && ((Point) o).y == y;
+    }
+    @Override public int hashCode() {
+      return x * 37 + y;
+    }
+    @Override public String toString() {
+      return "(" + x + "," + y + ")";
+    }
+  }
+}