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/*
 * Copyright (c) 2003, 2020, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
 *
 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
 *
 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
 * accompanied this code).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
 * questions.
 */
package java.lang.annotation;
/**
 * The constants of this enumerated class provide a simple classification of the
 * syntactic locations where annotations may appear in a Java program. These
 * constants are used in {@link java.lang.annotation.Target Target}
 * meta-annotations to specify where it is legal to write annotations of a
 * given type.
 *
 * <p>The syntactic locations where annotations may appear are split into
 * <em>declaration contexts</em>, where annotations apply to declarations, and
 * <em>type contexts</em>, where annotations apply to types used in
 * declarations and expressions.
 *
 * <p>The constants {@link #ANNOTATION_TYPE}, {@link #CONSTRUCTOR}, {@link
 * #FIELD}, {@link #LOCAL_VARIABLE}, {@link #METHOD}, {@link #PACKAGE}, {@link
 * #MODULE}, {@link #PARAMETER}, {@link #TYPE}, and {@link #TYPE_PARAMETER}
 * correspond to the declaration contexts in JLS 9.6.4.1.
 *
 * <p>For example, an annotation whose interface is meta-annotated with
 * {@code @Target(ElementType.FIELD)} may only be written as a modifier for a
 * field declaration.
 *
 * <p>The constant {@link #TYPE_USE} corresponds to the type contexts in JLS
 * 4.11, as well as to two declaration contexts: class and interface
 * declarations (including annotation declarations) and type parameter
 * declarations.
 *
 * <p>For example, an annotation whose interface is meta-annotated with
 * {@code @Target(ElementType.TYPE_USE)} may be written on the class or
 * interface of a field (or within the class or interface of the field, if it
 * is a nested or parameterized class or interface, or array class), and may
 * also appear as a modifier for, say, a class declaration.
 *
 * <p>The {@code TYPE_USE} constant includes class and interface declarations
 * and type parameter declarations as a convenience for designers of
 * type checkers which give semantics to annotation interfaces. For example,
 * if the annotation interface {@code NonNull} is meta-annotated with
 * {@code @Target(ElementType.TYPE_USE)}, then {@code @NonNull}
 * {@code class C {...}} could be treated by a type checker as indicating that
 * all variables of class {@code C} are non-null, while still allowing
 * variables of other classes to be non-null or not non-null based on whether
 * {@code @NonNull} appears at the variable's declaration.
 *
 * @author  Joshua Bloch
 * @since 1.5
 * @jls 9.6.4.1 @Target
 * @jls 4.1 The Kinds of Types and Values
 */
public enum ElementType {
    /** Class, interface (including annotation interface), enum, or record
     * declaration */
    TYPE,
    /** Field declaration (includes enum constants) */
    FIELD,
    /** Method declaration */
    METHOD,
    /** Formal parameter declaration */
    PARAMETER,
    /** Constructor declaration */
    CONSTRUCTOR,
    /** Local variable declaration */
    LOCAL_VARIABLE,
    /** Annotation interface declaration (Formerly known as an annotation type.) */
    ANNOTATION_TYPE,
    /** Package declaration */
    PACKAGE,
    /**
     * Type parameter declaration
     *
     * @since 1.8
     */
    TYPE_PARAMETER,
    /**
     * Use of a type
     *
     * @since 1.8
     */
    TYPE_USE,
    /**
     * Module declaration.
     *
     * @since 9
     */
    MODULE,
    /**
     * Record component
     *
     * @jls 8.10.3 Record Members
     * @jls 9.7.4 Where Annotations May Appear
     *
     * @since 16
     */
    RECORD_COMPONENT;
}
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