Java Custom Annotations Example

06/11/2016
Java Custom Annotations Example

By mkyong (https://www.mkyong.com/author/mkyong/) | January 3, 2014 | Viewed : 296,441 times +2,764 pv/w
In this tutorial, we will show you how to create two custom annotations @Test and @TestInfo , to simulate a simple unit test framework.
P.S This unit test example is inspired by this official Java annotation article (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/language/annotations.html).
1. @Test Annotation
This @interface tells Java this is a custom annotation. Later, you can annotate it on method level like this @Test(enable=false) .
Test.java
package com.mkyong.test.core;
import
import
import
import
java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
java.lang.annotation.Retention;
java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
java.lang.annotation.Target;
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target(ElementType.METHOD) //can use in method only.
public @interface Test {
//should ignore this test?
public boolean enabled() default true;
}
Note
Method declarations must not have any parameters or a throws clause. Return types are restricted to primitives, String, Class, enums, annotations,
and arrays of the preceding types.
Java APIs for Developers
2. @TesterInfo Annotation
This @TesterInfo is applied on class level, store the tester details. This shows the different use of return types enum, array and string.
https://www.mkyong.com/java/java-custom-annotations-example/
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06/11/2016
TesterInfo.java
package com.mkyong.test.core;
import
import
import
import
java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
java.lang.annotation.Retention;
java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
java.lang.annotation.Target;
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target(ElementType.TYPE) //on class level
public @interface TesterInfo {
public enum Priority {
LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH
}
Priority priority() default Priority.MEDIUM;
String[] tags() default "";
String createdBy() default "Mkyong";
String lastModified() default "03/01/2014";
}
3. Unit Test Example

Create a simple unit test example, and annotated with the new custom annotations @Test and @TesterInfo .
TestExample.java
package com.mkyong.test;
import com.mkyong.test.core.Test;
import com.mkyong.test.core.TesterInfo;
import com.mkyong.test.core.TesterInfo.Priority;
@TesterInfo(
priority = Priority.HIGH,
createdBy = "mkyong.com",
tags = {"sales","test" }
)
public class TestExample {
@Test
void testA() {
if (true)
throw new RuntimeException("This test always failed");
}
@Test(enabled = false)
void testB() {
if (false)
throw new RuntimeException("This test always passed");
}
@Test(enabled = true)
void testC() {
if (10 > 1) {
// do nothing, this test always passed.
}
}
}
4. Java reflection Read the Annotation

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4. Java reflection Read the Annotation

Below example show you how to use Java reflection APIs to read and process the custom annotations.
RunTest.java
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package com.mkyong.test;
import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import com.mkyong.test.core.Test;
import com.mkyong.test.core.TesterInfo;
public class RunTest {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
System.out.println("Testing...");
int passed = 0, failed = 0, count = 0, ignore = 0;
Class<TestExample> obj = TestExample.class;
// Process @TesterInfo
if (obj.isAnnotationPresent(TesterInfo.class)) {
Annotation annotation = obj.getAnnotation(TesterInfo.class);
TesterInfo testerInfo = (TesterInfo) annotation;
System.out.printf("%nPriority :%s", testerInfo.priority());
System.out.printf("%nCreatedBy :%s", testerInfo.createdBy());
System.out.printf("%nTags :");
int tagLength = testerInfo.tags().length;
for (String tag : testerInfo.tags()) {
if (tagLength > 1) {
System.out.print(tag + ", ");
} else {
System.out.print(tag);
}
tagLength--;
}
System.out.printf("%nLastModified :%s%n%n", testerInfo.lastModified());
}
// Process @Test
for (Method method : obj.getDeclaredMethods()) {
// if method is annotated with @Test
if (method.isAnnotationPresent(Test.class)) {
Annotation annotation = method.getAnnotation(Test.class);
Test test = (Test) annotation;
// if enabled = true (default)
if (test.enabled()) {
try {
method.invoke(obj.newInstance());
System.out.printf("%s - Test '%s' - passed %n", ++count, method.getName());
passed++;
} catch (Throwable ex) {
System.out.printf("%s - Test '%s' - failed: %s %n", ++count, method.getName(), ex.getCause());
failed++;
}
} else {
System.out.printf("%s - Test '%s' - ignored%n", ++count, method.getName());
ignore++;
}
}
}
System.out.printf("%nResult : Total : %d, Passed: %d, Failed %d, Ignore %d%n", count, passed, failed, ignore);
}
}
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Output
Testing...
Priority :HIGH
CreatedBy :mkyong.com
Tags :sales, test
LastModified :03/01/2014
1 - Test 'testA' - failed: java.lang.RuntimeException: This test always failed
2 - Test 'testC' - passed
3 - Test 'testB' - ignored
Result : Total : 3, Passed: 1, Failed 1, Ignore 1
Done.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
Wikipedia : Java annotation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_annotation)

Oracle JavaSE docs annotations (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/language/annotations.html)
ElementType JavaDoc (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/annotation/ElementType.html)
RetentionPolicy JavaDoc (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/annotation/RetentionPolicy.html)
Tags : annotation (https://www.mkyong.com/tag/annotation/)
unit test (https://www.mkyong.com/tag/unit-test/)
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About the Author

mkyong
Founder of Mkyong.com (http://mkyong.com) and HostingCompass.com (http://hostingcompass.com), love Java and open source
stuff. Follow him on Twitter (https://twitter.com/mkyong), or befriend him on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/java.tutorial) or
Google Plus (https://plus.google.com/110948163568945735692?rel=author). If you like my tutorials, consider make a donation to
these charities (http://www.mkyong.com/blog/donate-to-charity/).
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Comments
13 Comments
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Jan Vladimir Mostert 3 years ago
Can you do the same tutorial using AspectJ ?

11
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wade 2 years ago
good example simple but clear, thanks

1
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Ewen Mackenzie 10 months ago
simply spectacular :D
Reply Share
Kiran Biliyawala a year ago
Simple and Neat .. (Y)

Reply Share
Pradeesh P a year ago
I have a doubt can we do the package level annoatation without adding the adpaters and package-info.java in the same package.
Real Qstn is :
I have different packages around 20 packges which has to use this annotations. so is it neccessery to put adpaters as well as package-info.java in each and
every package. Is there any alternate way for it? please help...
Reply Share
Roman a year ago
Thanks, good explanation

Reply Share
AZiza Saber a year ago
hi friends; how can I read fields , methods ,... of a class by using annotations
thanks
thanks
Reply Share
Jeeva 2 years ago
Hi, do you have sample of initialize a object through annotation

http://stackoverflow.com/quest...
Reply Share
Murali Mohan 2 years ago
Good one... Annotations demystified largely.

Reply Share
Viacheslav Horobchenko 2 years ago
I created a custom method_annotation that allows me to change the order of parts of text in toString() method.
Is it possible to annotate a method before call it (beyond a class definition)?
7/9
06/11/2016
Is it possible to annotate a method before call it (beyond a class definition)?

Here is an expected code:
System.out.println("Person: " + person.@ToStringOrder(non-default-parameter) toString() );

How to annotate person.toString() ?
What is the correct syntax if it possible?
Thanks in advance
Reply Share
amaresh 2 years ago
is it possible to write a custom annotaion which will set a default value to a java bean variable. for example if there is a list and the getter method should be
initialised to a new arraylist through a custom annotation. can some one suggest.
Reply Share
denuwanthi 2 years ago
very helpful. thanks

Reply Share
Fr Jeremy 2 years ago
This:
Annotation annotation = obj.getAnnotation(TesterInfo.class);
TesterInfo testerInfo = (TesterInfo) annotation;
...can simply be written as:
TesterInfo testerInfo = obj.getAnnotation(TesterInfo.class);
It is not necessary to assign to an intermediate variable of type "Annotation" and then downcast it at runtime - the Java Generics mechanism already handles
the type conversion for you at compile time.
Reply Share
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Avat fmpdmb That really doesn't make any sense and is not my experience.
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Avat Savani Hello Mkyong - Could you please also create tutorials for Spring
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Avat Conor Wow this is very powerful! Can you comment on the time
complexity required to do such an operation? Your code is pretty selfexplanatory but I am unsure about
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