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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-21T16:42:29+00:00

Can someone describe the use of annotation processing ? My last attempt to understand

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Can someone describe the use of annotation processing?
My last attempt to understand annotations was unsuccessful.

Previously I posted this question but couldn’t get a satisfactory answer.
I went through many online tutorials but most of them are about annotations used for:

  1. Documentation
  2. Annotations used by the compiler (@Deprecated, @Override, @SuppressWarnings)
  3. Annotation processing (@Target and @Retention)

Please someone explain me Annotation Processing by directing me to appropriate tutorial.

To be very precise I want to know more about the following
Meta-Annotations (Java Annotation Types):

  • Target
  • Retention
  • Documented
  • Inherited

I already went through many tutorials like this but couldn’t get much information on Annotation Processing.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The annotations asked about are annotations used for annotating Annotations. Their specific purposes are:

    • Target: Specifies where you can use the annotation. E.g. @Target(ElementType.METHOD) means the Annotation can only be used on methods.

    • Retention: Specifies where/when the annotation is available. @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME) means it is available at runtime using reflection. Other values make it only in the class files orat compile time (the options mentioned first include the later options)

    • Documented An annotation with this annotation will apear in javadoc
    • Inherited makes subclasses inherit the annoteted annotation from their superclasses

    For all four the javadoc is quite helpfull.

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