Annotations

[cpurdy]

There are a number of fundamental annotations that we are still considering changing / refining:

• @Final - not yet implemented.

  • Discuss: should it be a keyword ("final") or is the annotation good?

• @Abstract - implemented, but some changes likely.

  • Discuss: should it be a keyword ("abstract") or is the annotation good? Likely changes:
  • It will be a compiler error if a class has unimplemented methods and it is not marked as @Abstract
  • It will be a compiler error if a class has uninitialized properties (other than those marked with @Unassigned) and it is not marked as @Abstract

• @Doc

  • The main idea is that the /** ... */ comments would automatically produce @Doc annotations behind the scenes.
  • @param and @return documentation tags would become @Doc annotations on the child Parameter structures.
  • The @Doc annotations will support (provide the information for) the xdoc utility.

• @Pragma - we're considering introducing an annotation to allow various compile-time warnings to be suppressed.

  • Discuss.

Also, as mentioned on the other thread:

• @Transient - a new annotation for marking properties that are never passed through a service boundary