06/11/2016
Java Custom Annotations Example
Java Custom Annotations Example
By mkyong (https://www.mkyong.com/author/mkyong/) | January 3, 2014 | Viewed : 296,441 times +2,764 pv/w
In this tutorial, we will show you how to create two custom annotations @Test and @TestInfo , to simulate a simple unit test framework.
P.S This unit test example is inspired by this official Java annotation article (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/language/annotations.html).
1. @Test Annotation
This @interface tells Java this is a custom annotation. Later, you can annotate it on method level like this @Test(enable=false) .
Test.java
package com.mkyong.test.core;
import
import
import
import
java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
java.lang.annotation.Retention;
java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
java.lang.annotation.Target;
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target(ElementType.METHOD) //can use in method only.
public @interface Test {
//should ignore this test?
public boolean enabled() default true;
}
Note
Method declarations must not have any parameters or a throws clause. Return types are restricted to primitives, String, Class, enums, annotations,
and arrays of the preceding types.
Java APIs for Developers
2. @TesterInfo Annotation
This @TesterInfo is applied on class level, store the tester details. This shows the different use of return types enum, array and string.
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Java Custom Annotations Example
TesterInfo.java
package com.mkyong.test.core;
import
import
import
import
java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
java.lang.annotation.Retention;
java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
java.lang.annotation.Target;
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target(ElementType.TYPE) //on class level
public @interface TesterInfo {
public enum Priority {
LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH
}
Priority priority() default Priority.MEDIUM;
String[] tags() default "";
String createdBy() default "Mkyong";
String lastModified() default "03/01/2014";
}
3. Unit Test Example
Create a simple unit test example, and annotated with the new custom annotations @Test and @TesterInfo .
TestExample.java
package com.mkyong.test;
import com.mkyong.test.core.Test;
import com.mkyong.test.core.TesterInfo;
import com.mkyong.test.core.TesterInfo.Priority;
@TesterInfo(
priority = Priority.HIGH,
createdBy = "mkyong.com",
tags = {"sales","test" }
)
public class TestExample {
@Test
void testA() {
if (true)
throw new RuntimeException("This test always failed");
}
@Test(enabled = false)
void testB() {
if (false)
throw new RuntimeException("This test always passed");
}
@Test(enabled = true)
void testC() {
if (10 > 1) {
// do nothing, this test always passed.
}
}
}
4. Java reflection Read the Annotation
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Java Custom Annotations Example
4. Java reflection Read the Annotation
Below example show you how to use Java reflection APIs to read and process the custom annotations.
RunTest.java
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Java Custom Annotations Example
package com.mkyong.test;
import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import com.mkyong.test.core.Test;
import com.mkyong.test.core.TesterInfo;
public class RunTest {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
System.out.println("Testing...");
int passed = 0, failed = 0, count = 0, ignore = 0;
Class<TestExample> obj = TestExample.class;
// Process @TesterInfo
if (obj.isAnnotationPresent(TesterInfo.class)) {
Annotation annotation = obj.getAnnotation(TesterInfo.class);
TesterInfo testerInfo = (TesterInfo) annotation;
System.out.printf("%nPriority :%s", testerInfo.priority());
System.out.printf("%nCreatedBy :%s", testerInfo.createdBy());
System.out.printf("%nTags :");
int tagLength = testerInfo.tags().length;
for (String tag : testerInfo.tags()) {
if (tagLength > 1) {
System.out.print(tag + ", ");
} else {
System.out.print(tag);
}
tagLength--;
}
System.out.printf("%nLastModified :%s%n%n", testerInfo.lastModified());
}
// Process @Test
for (Method method : obj.getDeclaredMethods()) {
// if method is annotated with @Test
if (method.isAnnotationPresent(Test.class)) {
Annotation annotation = method.getAnnotation(Test.class);
Test test = (Test) annotation;
// if enabled = true (default)
if (test.enabled()) {
try {
method.invoke(obj.newInstance());
System.out.printf("%s - Test '%s' - passed %n", ++count, method.getName());
passed++;
} catch (Throwable ex) {
System.out.printf("%s - Test '%s' - failed: %s %n", ++count, method.getName(), ex.getCause());
failed++;
}
} else {
System.out.printf("%s - Test '%s' - ignored%n", ++count, method.getName());
ignore++;
}
}
}
System.out.printf("%nResult : Total : %d, Passed: %d, Failed %d, Ignore %d%n", count, passed, failed, ignore);
}
}
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Java Custom Annotations Example
Output
Testing...
Priority :HIGH
CreatedBy :mkyong.com
Tags :sales, test
LastModified :03/01/2014
1 - Test 'testA' - failed: java.lang.RuntimeException: This test always failed
2 - Test 'testC' - passed
3 - Test 'testB' - ignored
Result : Total : 3, Passed: 1, Failed 1, Ignore 1
Done.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
Wikipedia : Java annotation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_annotation)
Oracle JavaSE docs annotations (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/language/annotations.html)
ElementType JavaDoc (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/annotation/ElementType.html)
RetentionPolicy JavaDoc (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/annotation/RetentionPolicy.html)
Tags : annotation (https://www.mkyong.com/tag/annotation/)
unit test (https://www.mkyong.com/tag/unit-test/)
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About the Author
mkyong
Founder of Mkyong.com (http://mkyong.com) and HostingCompass.com (http://hostingcompass.com), love Java and open source
stuff. Follow him on Twitter (https://twitter.com/mkyong), or befriend him on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/java.tutorial) or
Google Plus (https://plus.google.com/110948163568945735692?rel=author). If you like my tutorials, consider make a donation to
these charities (http://www.mkyong.com/blog/donate-to-charity/).
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Comments
13 Comments
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Jan Vladimir Mostert 3 years ago
Can you do the same tutorial using AspectJ ?
11
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wade 2 years ago
good example simple but clear, thanks
1
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Ewen Mackenzie 10 months ago
simply spectacular :D
Reply Share
Kiran Biliyawala a year ago
Simple and Neat .. (Y)
Reply Share
Pradeesh P a year ago
I have a doubt can we do the package level annoatation without adding the adpaters and package-info.java in the same package.
Real Qstn is :
I have different packages around 20 packges which has to use this annotations. so is it neccessery to put adpaters as well as package-info.java in each and
every package. Is there any alternate way for it? please help...
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Roman a year ago
Thanks, good explanation
Reply Share
AZiza Saber a year ago
hi friends; how can I read fields , methods ,... of a class by using annotations
thanks
thanks
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Jeeva 2 years ago
Hi, do you have sample of initialize a object through annotation
http://stackoverflow.com/quest...
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Murali Mohan 2 years ago
Good one... Annotations demystified largely.
Reply Share
Viacheslav Horobchenko 2 years ago
I created a custom method_annotation that allows me to change the order of parts of text in toString() method.
Is it possible to annotate a method before call it (beyond a class definition)?
https://www.mkyong.com/java/java-custom-annotations-example/
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Java Custom Annotations Example
Is it possible to annotate a method before call it (beyond a class definition)?
Here is an expected code:
System.out.println("Person: " + person.@ToStringOrder(non-default-parameter) toString() );
How to annotate person.toString() ?
What is the correct syntax if it possible?
Thanks in advance
Reply Share
amaresh 2 years ago
is it possible to write a custom annotaion which will set a default value to a java bean variable. for example if there is a list and the getter method should be
initialised to a new arraylist through a custom annotation. can some one suggest.
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denuwanthi 2 years ago
very helpful. thanks
Reply Share
Fr Jeremy 2 years ago
This:
Annotation annotation = obj.getAnnotation(TesterInfo.class);
TesterInfo testerInfo = (TesterInfo) annotation;
...can simply be written as:
TesterInfo testerInfo = obj.getAnnotation(TesterInfo.class);
It is not necessary to assign to an intermediate variable of type "Annotation" and then downcast it at runtime - the Java Generics mechanism already handles
the type conversion for you at compile time.
Reply Share
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Avat fmpdmb That really doesn't make any sense and is not my experience.
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Avat Savani Hello Mkyong - Could you please also create tutorials for Spring
Boot ? That will help all your followers.
Avat Conor Wow this is very powerful! Can you comment on the time
complexity required to do such an operation? Your code is pretty selfexplanatory but I am unsure about
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