An Introduction To Java Annotations

@ Java Annotations
an introduction to
Walter Harley BEA Systems Inc.
2008 by BEA Systems Inc.; made available under the EPL v1.0 | 3/18/2008 | Java Annotations
Introduction
Walter Harley, BEA Systems Inc. JDT APT lead; Eclipse committer since 2005 Caveat: I am not a J2EE developer
Who am I?
I will be talking about:

Use cases for annotations How to declare and use annotations SWAGs about the future of annotations
I wont be talking about:

Details of writing annotation processors Annotation support features in Eclipse
Java Annotations | 2008 by BEA Systems Inc.; made available under the EPL v1.0
Quickly, whats an annotation?

declaration @interface Author { String name(); int year(); } @Author(name = Walter Harley, year = 2008) class MyClass {}
usage
Program metadata decorations on ordinary Java code. Like javadoc comments, but with syntax and strong types. Meant to be both human- and machine-readable. No relation to Eclipse editor annotations!
Where did annotations come from?

Main goal: auto-generate J2EE boilerplate code from metadata.
Another goal: better communication from developer to compiler, for optimization and error checking.
Previously, generation was achieved via xdoclet or custom tools like ejbgen (v2.0), using javadoc comments as input. But programming in javadoc is unchecked and syntactically limited. Annotations are a solution. JSR-175 introduced annotations into Java 5, in 2004
Agenda
Introduction How are annotations used? How do annotations fit into the language? Whats on the horizon? Q&A
How are annotations used?

edit compile deploy classload run
There are use cases throughout the development cycle

Capabilities and challenges different at each point
Many ways to read, and act upon, an annotation

Human-readable in source code Built-in support in IDE Annotation processing API (JSR-269) during compilation Class file bytecode readers (BCEL) Reflection at runtime
Annotations as fancy comments

Annotations as standardized comments e.g., @Deprecated, versus /* dont use this any more */
Harder to mis-spell, easier to search, and less ambiguous.
Defined entities (@deprecated) in javadoc are pretty good; but @depracated in javadoc fails silently. No programmatic access to the annotation implied in this case, its just there for humans to read.
Using annotations with IDE support

Annotations let you tell the compiler/IDE what you mean, in more detail than the raw code will support. Integrity analysis (e.g., @NonNull in IntelliJ)
Requires proprietary support built into the compiler/IDE
Semantic error checking, e.g., only one method in an EntityBean should be a primary key.
May be implemented with an annotation processor
Annotation processing at compile time

Generate additional Java types and artifacts (J2EE)

RPC stubs, LocalHome interfaces, deployment descriptors
Practical examples: EJB, JAX-WS Not well suited to composite files (message.properties, web-info.xml), because of incremental compilation
Can make composites in separate build step, or during deploy
Processing annotations on class files

Bytecode enhancement based on annotations

Libraries like BCEL to read and write class files
Can modify existing class which APT doesnt let you do. Practical example: Resin app server
@TransactionAttribute(REQUIRED) inserts transaction locking code around calls that need to be atomic.
Other possibilities: load class differently depending on threading requirements, API version requirements, etc.
Reading annotations at runtime (JUnit 4)

JUnit 4 test runner finds annotated classes, instantiates them, executes the annotated methods Test case classes dont need to subclass TestCase
@Test(expected = IndexOutOfBoundsException.class) public void empty() { List l = new ArrayList<Object>(); l.get(0); // should throw exception }
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Reading annotations at runtime (Hibernate)

Constraint validation in app server

Example: Hibernate data persistence framework
@NotEmpty @Length(min = 2, max = 50) public String getLastName () { return ; // runtime exception! }
Ill discuss how to read annotations at runtime after a bit of language background.
11 Java Annotations | 2008 by BEA Systems Inc.; made available under the EPL v1.0
Agenda
12
Declaring a marker annotation type

declaration (MyAnno.java) package p; @interface MyAnno {} import p.MyAnno; @MyAnno class MyClass {}
usage (MyClass.java)
Declaration is like declaring a normal type.

But notice the @ in the declaration
A marker annotation is the simplest type of annotation No member values just presence or absence of the annotation
13
Declaring a full annotation type

declaration @interface Since { int major(); int minor() default 0; } @Since(major = 3, minor = 4) class MyClass {}
usage
A full or normal annotation is one with multiple members Again, a lot like declaring an interface, except...
You can specify default values for members Lots of restrictions on members, which well get to in a moment
If all a full annotations members have defaults, it can be used like a marker annotation.
14
Declaring a single-valued annotation type

declaration @interface MaxLength { int value() default 80; } interface Foo { @MaxLength(25) String getFirstName(); @MaxLength String getLastName(); }
usage
Only one member, named value. Can then omit the value= when using the annotation. The value member can have a default.
Lets it be used like a marker annotation
15
Annotation types look like interfaces...

@interface ScreenFormat { enum COLOR { RED, BLUE, GREEN, BLACK } COLOR background() default BLACK; static final int SCREEN_DPI = 72; @interface VideoDevice { String name(); // name of device int dpi() default SCREEN_DPI; // resolution } VideoDevice[] supportedDevices(); }
Implicitly extend interface java.lang.annotation.Annotation

defines equals(), hashCode(), toString(), and annotationType()
Can declare constants, enums, and inner types. In bytecode, an annotation type is an interface, with a flag.
16
Annotation types can be used like interfaces...

@interface MyAnno {} ... class X implements MyAnno { // discouraged Class<? extends Annotation> annotationType() { MyAnno a = this; return a.getClass(); } }
An ordinary class or interface can implement or extend an annotation type Variables can be of annotation type. Normally youd only see this in code that was reflecting on annotations, not in the annotated code itself. In practice, implementing an annotation type is unusual, and compilers may warn!
...but with many restrictions

@interface MyAnno<T> extends IFoo { int intVal(int x); Class<T> type(); // Class<?> is okay String name() throws MyException; }
Cannot be generic. Cannot explicitly extend any other interfaces. Methods cannot have any parameters Methods cannot have any type parameters Method declarations cannot have a throws clause
Intended use: passing around simple declarative metadata.
Members can only be of certain types

package p; @interface MyAnno { String[] names(); Class<? extends SomeType> type(); AnotherAnno[] nestedAnnos(); Object bean(); // not a legal member type }
Primitive types (int, boolean, ...) and String Class enum Annotation (but not the annotation being defined) and one-dimensional arrays of the above.
19
How do you annotate code?

@A class X { @A @B(quux) public void foo(@C x) { ... } @B private String s; }
Syntactically, annotations are modifiers, like final. Annotations can be applied to any declaration: types (including enums and annotation types), fields, constructors, methods, parameters, enum constants, packages, and local variables.
Roughly speaking, the same things that youd javadoc. JSR-308 seeks to extend the set of things that can be annotated.
Can put multiple annotations on one element, but they must each be of a different annotation type.
Work around this with annotations that contain arrays of annotations
20
Package annotations
// file package-info.java: @Deprecated package p; // no other contents in file
Example use case: deprecate an entire package with @Deprecated But packages usually have multiple declarations! By convention, annotate only one of them, in a file named package-info.java.
Analogous to package-info.html for javadoc Because this name contains a dash, it is not a legal identifier; so, cannot contain a primary type.
Package declaration comes before import statements, so must use qualified name for annotations from other packages.
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Using an annotation: member restrictions

@A(null) @B(3+4) @C(this.getClass()) class X {} // cant pass null value // ok to compute constants // cant eval at runtime
Member values cannot be null (but can be an empty array or String) Values must be constant expressions
I.e., computed statically at compile time
22
Where do you get annotations?

Write your own
but non-standard annotations are of limited use, in practice, because of the investment required to write tooling that uses them.
Industry standards (org.apache, com.bea, )

Like APIs, annotations often start out proprietary and then become standardized even if the implementation stays proprietary.
Built into the Java language (java.lang)
23
Built-in annotations
@Deprecated class Y { public abstract int foo(); } class X extends Y { @SuppressWarnings(unchecked) List numbers; @Override public int foo() { ... } }
Defined in java.lang; support built into the compiler or IDE. @Deprecated warns when deprecated item is used @SuppressWarnings turns off compiler warnings
There is no standard list of suppressible warnings
@Override warns if a method is not truly an override

avoid subtle errors, e.g., equals(MyClass f) vs. equals(Object o) In Java 5, @Override applies only to methods in superclasses; in Java 6, implemented interface methods are also permitted.
24
Built-in annotations for annotations

@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME) @Target({ ElementType.FIELD, ElementType.PARAMETER }) @Documented @Inherited @interface MyAnno { }
@Retention: does MyAnno get compiled into class file, and does it get loaded into the VM so it can be reflected on? Default is CLASS. @Target: to which elements can MyAnno be applied? @Documented: will MyAnno be mentioned in javadoc of the classes it is present on? (Is it part of the API contract?) @Inherited: if MyAnno is present on a class, is it inherited by subclasses? The built-in meta-annotations control how the tools (compiler, javadoc, VM) will treat an annotation.
Processing annotations at compile time

APT: like xdoclet for annotations Annotation processors are modules that plug into a compiler API, and get called during compilation. Can report errors, and generate new types and resources
Cannot change the existing code!
Processors dont see source code directly; instead, they see a typesystem sort of like the Eclipse Java DOM.
No method bodies; just what the type looks like to other types
Like reflection API, except introspecting on source code at compile time, rather than on live objects at runtime.
26
The APT APIs

Two distinct APT interfaces
In Java 5, com.sun.mirror API, implemented by apt tool In Java 6, javax.annotation.processing API (JSR-269), directly implemented by javac Eclipse 3.2 supports Java 5 interface; 3.3+ support both.
Resource to learn more: APT tutorial presented at EclipseCon 2007, available online at eclipse.org.
Warning: difficult API with many pitfalls and limitations
27
Reflecting on annotations at runtime

@interface MaxLength { int value(); } class ValidatingMethodCaller { String validate(java.lang.reflect.Method m, ) { MaxLength maxAnno = m.getAnnotation(MaxLength.class); String s = (String)m.invoke(); if (maxAnno != null && s.length() > maxAnno.value() { throw new ValidationException(exceeded max length); } return s; } }
Annotations have to explicitly be given @Retention(RUNTIME). Reflection is about the only way to create an in-memory instance of an annotation type (because annotations are interfaces).
28
Agenda
29
JSR-305: annotations for software quality

IntelliJ and FindBugs already have annotations for performing certain flow analyses
@NotNull, @Nullable, @CheckForNull, @CheckReturnValue
Currently these annotations are proprietary. Proposal is to standardize them so that the annotations, at least, can be shared across different tools.
Getting tools to support the annotations will be slower.
Discussion also underway of annotations relating to concurrency; and a long tail of other issues more or less related to defect detection.
@ThreadSafe, @EventThreadOnly, etc. @Taint @Positive, @Nonpositive, etc.
30
JSR-308: annotations in more places

Declarations are the only thing that can be annotated, now. Proposal is to support annotations on many other elements
Casts (@NonNull) Throws clauses (@Critical) Switch statements (@NoFallThrough) Array elements Type parameters Type bounds etc...
Making use of such annotations, however, requires much deeper APIs for code inspection than we have now. Emphasis on compile-time checking; many of these constructs dont even exist at runtime.
SWAGs about the future

Expect widespread use in J2EE: enterprise applications are the sweet spot for annotations
a lot of boilerplate code can leverage standards execute inside smart containers
Expect increased support within development tools JSR 305 (software quality annotations) will gain broader support slowly.
Implementations are proprietary, hard to leverage No plans yet in Eclipse?
32
Agenda
Thanks for attending!

@ Java Annotations
an introduction to
Walter Harley BEA Systems Inc.
2008 by BEA Systems Inc.; made available under the EPL v1.0 | 3/18/2008 | Java Annotations

An Introduction To Java Annotations

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An Introduction To Java Annotations

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@ Java Annotations

I will be talking about:

I wont be talking about:

Quickly, whats an annotation?

Where did annotations come from?

How are annotations used?

There are use cases throughout the development cycle

Many ways to read, and act upon, an annotation

Annotations as fancy comments

Using annotations with IDE support

Annotation processing at compile time

Generate additional Java types and artifacts (J2EE)

Processing annotations on class files

Bytecode enhancement based on annotations

Reading annotations at runtime (JUnit 4)

Reading annotations at runtime (Hibernate)

Constraint validation in app server

Declaring a marker annotation type

Declaration is like declaring a normal type.

Declaring a full annotation type

Declaring a single-valued annotation type

Annotation types look like interfaces...

Implicitly extend interface java.lang.annotation.Annotation

Annotation types can be used like interfaces...

...but with many restrictions

Members can only be of certain types

How do you annotate code?

Using an annotation: member restrictions

Where do you get annotations?

Industry standards (org.apache, com.bea, )

Built into the Java language (java.lang)

@Override warns if a method is not truly an override

Built-in annotations for annotations

Processing annotations at compile time

The APT APIs

Warning: difficult API with many pitfalls and limitations

Reflecting on annotations at runtime

JSR-305: annotations for software quality

JSR-308: annotations in more places

SWAGs about the future

Thanks for attending!

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