I saw two methods in SolrServer: addBean( Object bean ) and add (SolrDocument doc ).
My question is:
If I can add objects directly using addBean(), do I need to create any schema for the object? Doesn't Solr look at fields of the object and determine the schema from there?
Or does Solr serialize the object into a string first and then proceeds with a normal add? (This might require schema specification)
Solr supports a Schemaless Mode. When starting Solr this way, you are initially not bound to a schema. When you give Solr a first document it will guess the appropriate field types and generate a schema that includes those field types for you. These fields are then fixed. You may still add new fields on the fly that way.
This feature is - imho - good for prototyping and to get first version of a schema, but you should not go to production with such a core.
There are some resources out there giving more details on that topic
But to answer your question