RFR: 8285488: Improve DocFinder [v3]

[Jonathan Gibbons]

On Fri, 28 Oct 2022 23:35:59 GMT, Pavel Rappo <prappo at openjdk.org> wrote:

>>> While I think it's quite clear...
>> 
>> I guess the narrative form is _exception class_ even if the BNF form is `ExceptionType` !
>
> Maybe we could simply call it _exception_? Exception _class_ excludes type variables. Exception _name_ is too stringly-typed. Exception _type_ and _element_ clash with liked-named entities in javax.lang.model.
> 
> Coming up with good terms is hard. FWIW, in ThrowsTaglet I consistently call `@throws` and `@exception` exception tags.

On terminology ...

You **declare** _exception classes_ (meaning any `class` that directly or indirectly extends `Throwable`.
You **throw** exception types, which includes the names of _exception classes_ and also _type variables_ that reference exception classes.

This is effectively the classic distinction in the Language Model API between _elements_ and _types_.

So, each can be correct, depending on the context.

-------------

PR: https://git.openjdk.org/jdk/pull/10746