Question

When creating new annotation

public @interface Invariant {
    String min();
    String max();
    String Default();
    String freeform();
}

Elements appear in what seems to be alphabetical order. I wonder if there is a way to force the same order as established in the annotation itself?

I get

    @Invariant(Default = "", freeform = "", max = "", min = "")

I’d like to get

    @Invariant(min = "", max = "", Default = "", freeform = "")

Answer 1

The order of the elements in an annotation is irrelevant, it makes no sense at all to force an ordering. Don’t waste your efforts on this, it’s not worth it – and anyway, you can’t force an ordering, it’s just not possible.