Expressions for annotation values and parameterized types.

[Joe Darcy]

Hello.

Gavin King wrote:
> Hi folks,
> 
> something that has come up in JSR-299 is the fact that Java provides
> no easy expression syntax for:
> 
> * annotation values
> * parameterized types
> 
> We have to jump through hoops instead of being able to write:
> 
>     Named named = @Named( getName() );
> 
> or:
> 
>     ParameterizedType<Set<Employee>> type = Set<Employee>.class;
> 
> These problems certainly have (ugly) workarounds, and that's why 299
> introduces AnnotationLiteral and TypeLiteral, but it would be great if
> these helper classes could be hidden by the compiler.
> 
> These issues are becoming more important as Java APIs move in the
> direction of greater typesafety.
> 
> I'm happy to work on a more formal proposal if there is interest in
> addressing these issues.

The window to submit small language change proposals for JDK 7 expired 
several months ago and we won't be accepting any more now.  However, it 
is still possible for library changes to be made in JDK 7 so if some 
form of the improvements can be expressed as libraries, they might still 
get in.

-Joe