Question

In “Documentation for Android SDK, API 8”, the javadoc for class android.test.InstrumentationTestRunner mentions command-line options for “small”, “medium”, and “large” tests without explaining how one would define tests as being of those sizes. A clue arrives later in the description in the form of a link to the annotation android.test.suitebuilder.annotation.LargeTest.

I have since noticed that Android defines annotations that the SDK javadoc hides from view. For example, the android.test.suitebuilder javadoc page does not mention the adroid.test.suitebuilder.annotation package at all.

Am I missing some base assumption about how one should use the SDK? For example, the question at How to get eclipse to show javadoc for javax annotations suggests downloading the source and letting eclipse generate (presumably more complete) javadoc from it. Have Android developers been viewing javadoc from source for so long that they haven’t noticed the incomplete javadoc in the SDK?

And yes, I’ve noticed that some of the source javadoc includes a @hide tag, which presumably causes the generator to ignore it. It appears deliberate, which begged my question.

Answer 1

1. Android SDK is a work in progress with JavaDoc that is sometimes incomplete. Luckily we can look directly at the open source when necessary.
2. Stackoverflow often has answers that fill the gaps in the JavaDoc.

That appears to be as good as it gets.