Question

I’m developing an java API for persistence of objects where y use annotations for the fields, but i’m not sure what would be the better implementation regarding to Classes.

public interface Persistent{        
        public Key getKey();
    public void setKey(Key key);
}
public class PersistentObject implements Persistent{
    Key key;        
    public Key getKey() {
        return key;
    }
    public void setKey(Key key) {
        this.key=key;
    }       
}

OR

public @interface Persistent {  
}
@Persistent
public class PersistentObject {
    Key key; //the coder must create this variable or the system doesn't work
}

1. The firs one use the interface mechanism that is widely used in OOP,
   it requires to create a variable to implement this interface but is
   supposed the progammer knows it.
2. The second is easier for the final programmer and is widely used in many
   libraries for persistence however forces the programmer to create a
   variable with one name by convention that doesn’t fit in the OOP
   model.

Thanx for your answers.

Answer 1

No, I am not going to give you a answer. But I suggest that you go through the chapter “Prefer annotations to naming patterns” in Effective Java by Joshua Bloch.

Please let me know if that’s the answer you are looking for.