AnnotationFormatError vs. IllegalArgumentException for invalid annotation interface members (methods)

[Peter Levart]

On 01/07/2017 09:26 AM, Peter Levart wrote:
> I'm thinking of moving the validateAnnotationMethods() method from 
> AnnotationInvocationHandler where methods are being checked for each 
> annotation instance constructed to AnnotationType, where they would be 
> checked only once per annotation type and make exception reporting 
> consistent for any invalid situation.

Correction: validateAnnotationMethods() is only invoked from the 
annotation's equals() implementation when some JDK annotation is 
compared with a foreign implementation of annotation (one that is not 
using dynamic Proxy and AnnotationInvocationHandler). Which is a waste I 
think and mostly to late or never. I think the methods should be checked 
in AnnotationType constructor as soon as the 1st annotation of a 
particular type is attempted to be materialized, don't you think?

Regards, Peter