package-info.java revision 2571:10fc81ac75b4 
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3 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
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9 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
10 *
11 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
12 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
13 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
14 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
15 * accompanied this code).
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19 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
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21 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
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24 */
25
26/**
27 * Interfaces used to model elements of the Java programming language.
28 *
29 * The term "element" in this package is used to refer to program
30 * elements, the declared entities that make up a program.  Elements
31 * include classes, interfaces, methods, constructors, and fields.
32 * The interfaces in this package do not model the structure of a
33 * program inside a method body; for example there is no
34 * representation of a {@code for} loop or {@code try}-{@code finally}
35 * block.  However, the interfaces can model some structures only
36 * appearing inside method bodies, such as local variables and
37 * anonymous classes.
38 *
39 * <p>When used in the context of annotation processing, an accurate
40 * model of the element being represented must be returned.  As this
41 * is a language model, the source code provides the fiducial
42 * (reference) representation of the construct in question rather than
43 * a representation in an executable output like a class file.
44 * Executable output may serve as the basis for creating a modeling
45 * element.  However, the process of translating source code to
46 * executable output may not permit recovering some aspects of the
47 * source code representation.  For example, annotations with
48 * {@linkplain java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy#SOURCE source}
49 * {@linkplain java.lang.annotation.Retention retention} cannot be
50 * recovered from class files and class files might not be able to
51 * provide source position information.
52 *
53 * Names of parameters may not be recoverable from class files.
54 *
55 * The {@linkplain javax.lang.model.element.Modifier modifiers} on an
56 * element may differ in some cases including:
57 *
58 * <ul>
59 * <li> {@code strictfp} on a class or interface
60 * <li> {@code final} on a parameter
61 * <li> {@code protected}, {@code private}, and {@code static} on classes and interfaces
62 * </ul>
63 *
64 * Additionally, synthetic constructs in a class file, such as
65 * accessor methods used in implementing nested classes and bridge
66 * methods used in implementing covariant returns, are translation
67 * artifacts outside of this model.
68 *
69 * <p>During annotation processing, operating on incomplete or
70 * erroneous programs is necessary; however, there are fewer
71 * guarantees about the nature of the resulting model.  If the source
72 * code is not syntactically well-formed or has some other
73 * irrecoverable error that could not be removed by the generation of
74 * new types, a model may or may not be provided as a quality of
75 * implementation issue.
76 * If a program is syntactically valid but erroneous in some other
77 * fashion, any returned model must have no less information than if
78 * all the method bodies in the program were replaced by {@code "throw
79 * new RuntimeException();"}.  If a program refers to a missing type XYZ,
80 * the returned model must contain no less information than if the
81 * declaration of type XYZ were assumed to be {@code "class XYZ {}"},
82 * {@code "interface XYZ {}"}, {@code "enum XYZ {}"}, or {@code
83 * "@interface XYZ {}"}. If a program refers to a missing type {@code
84 * XYZ<K1, ... ,Kn>}, the returned model must contain no less
85 * information than if the declaration of XYZ were assumed to be
86 * {@code "class XYZ<T1, ... ,Tn> {}"} or {@code "interface XYZ<T1,
87 * ... ,Tn> {}"}
88 *
89 * <p> Unless otherwise specified in a particular implementation, the
90 * collections returned by methods in this package should be expected
91 * to be unmodifiable by the caller and unsafe for concurrent access.
92 *
93 * <p> Unless otherwise specified, methods in this package will throw
94 * a {@code NullPointerException} if given a {@code null} argument.
95 *
96 * @author Joseph D. Darcy
97 * @author Scott Seligman
98 * @author Peter von der Ah&eacute;
99 * @since 1.6
100 */
101package javax.lang.model.element;
102