Java Reference
In-Depth Information
of the annotation type as shown above: The string
"JoeSmith"
is used
to set the value of the
reviewer
element, while the
int
value
20050331
is
used to set the value of the
date
element. A tool could extract these val-
ues from either the source file, or (more often) a compiled class file, and
determine, for example, whether a class has been reviewed since it was
last modified.
While the language defines the syntax of annotation types, their actual
purpose is determined by the tools that recognize them. We won't
have anything else to say about annotations until they are discussed in
Chapter 15
,
except to mention where they can be applied.
