Meta Annotation
Overview of meta-annotation in Java.
In Java, meta-annotations are annotations that can be applied to other annotations. These meta-annotations provide additional information about how the annotated annotation should be treated or processed.
Here are some of commonly used meta-annotations in Java:
@Retention: Indicates how long annotations with this type should be retained. The possible retention policies are SOURCE, CLASS, and RUNTIME.
@Target: Specifies where the annotated annotation can be applied, such as METHOD, FIELD, TYPE, etc.
@Documented: Indicates that annotations with this type should be included in the generated JavaDoc documentation.
@Inherited: Specifies that the annotated annotation should be inherited by subclasses.
@Repeatable: Allows an annotation to be applied multiple times to the same element.
@Native: Indicates that the annotated annotation is implemented in a language other than Java.
@Deprecated: Marks the annotated annotation as deprecated. Java recommends that in javadoc, information should be provided for why this method is deprecated and what is the alternative to use.
@SuppressWarnings: Suppresses compiler warnings for the annotated annotation. Usually used when using raw types in java generics.
Last updated
Was this helpful?