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During this final video of the course, we'll use what we learned about reflection to examine the MathUtils class, checking to see if proper @Doc annotations have been applied.
Popular Libraries Leveraging Annotations
Java libraries that make heavy use of annotations are seemingly endless. Here are just a few of the most popular ones:
- Spring - writing standard web applications, creating a RESTful API, running batch processes, and more!
- JUnit - create small, repeatable tests that ensure the functionality of your application's individual components
- Hibernate - wire Java objects to databases
- Butter Knife - wire GUI elements from Android views to the code that controls them
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If you didn't take the time earlier to
scan the logic of this class, go ahead and
0:00
pause the video now and take a peek.
0:03
When you get the gist of it,
un-pause and we'll continue.
0:05
Everything that needs to be done is
documented with a to do comment, so
0:08
let's jump right in.
0:11
To check if an annotation
is present on a class or
0:13
a method, the code is quite simple and
intuitive.
0:15
We'll use the class objects,
isAnnotationPresent() method.
0:18
So in place of true, I will type clazz.
0:23
I'm gonna call this variable clazz, so
0:27
it's not confused with class,
isAnnotationPresent().
0:30
And I'll press Doc.class.
0:35
So, I tell the class object exactly
what annotation I'm looking for.
0:36
Next up is looping over the declared
methods of the class object.
0:42
We did this while practicing.
0:45
So here, instead of looping over an empty
array, which I have right here, we'll use
0:46
the getDeclaredMethods method to return
an array of the classesDeclared methods.
0:52
clazz.getDeclaredMethods().
0:58
Now, let's get the modifiers
the current method.
1:04
This is accomplished with
the get modifiers method.
1:07
Remember, this comes back as an int.
1:09
We'll be making more meaningful
use of this int in just a moment.
1:11
So in place of this string approach
that we took in practicing reflection,
1:14
we're gonna store this as an int.
1:19
int, and I'll call it modifierInt
1:21
= method.getModifiers.
1:27
Getting the method name was also
simple and straightforward.
1:31
We use the getName() method.
1:34
So in place of null, method.getName().
1:36
Now back to those modifiers.
1:41
We need to use what's store in
modifierInts to check whether or
1:43
not the private modifier is present.
1:46
We could use the approach we did earlier.
1:48
Convert the int to a modifier string and
1:50
then check to see if that string
contains the word private.
1:52
But, there's another method
in the Modifier class
1:55
that will get us there one step sooner.
1:58
It's the isPrivate() method,
and it's a static method.
2:01
So in place of true I will check to
see if the modifier is private and
2:04
I'll pass it the modifierInt that I got
back from calling getModifiers() up above.
2:10
Now of course, I want to check to see if
the method is non-private, so I'm going to
2:18
negate this boolean value that comes
back with the exclamation point.
2:22
I also realized that I'd
introduced the Modifier class for
2:26
the first time in this file.
2:29
So let's go to the top and
import the modifier class.
2:31
Import java.lang.reflect.Modifier.
2:35
Brilliant, scrolling back down,
2:40
next we'll need to check and see if
the annotation appears on the method.
2:43
Right here, in place of this true,
2:48
will also call the isAnnotationPresent()
on the method.
2:50
So, I'll call
method.isAnnotationPresent().
2:53
Again, pass the .class, so it knows which
annotation we're actually looking for.
2:59
The next to do is a critical one, and
one we haven't practiced yet, but
3:05
it's also really easy.
3:08
This will be the piece of code that gives
us access to the actual element values
3:10
on the individually placed annotations.
3:14
That is, we'll be able to read
the details of a specific annotation.
3:16
For example,
what description was indeed provided?
3:20
Or, how many parameters
were actually documented?
3:24
What we need to do is fetch the annotation
itself as a doc object, so that we can
3:28
call the interface methods, or elements,
that we defined in the annotation.
3:32
To do this, we'll call the methods
getAnnotation() method.
3:37
method.getAnnotation(), again
specifying which
3:41
annotation it is that we'd like to get.
3:46
The rest of our coding falls into the two
methods at the bottom of the class.
3:50
getNumMissingParams(), right here,
as well as hasReturnDescription(),
3:53
the last method at the bottom here.
3:58
Let's start with getNumMissingParams().
4:00
Our first order of business is
comparing the number of parameters to
4:04
the number of parameters document.
4:07
We'll first put each piece of
information into a variable and
4:09
then use those values
in simple comparison.
4:12
So, after these to do comments,
I'll create a couple of variables.
4:14
The first one I'm gonna
call annotedParamCount.
4:17
This will be the number of parameters that
were documented in the annotation itself.
4:21
So, to find that I will
say doc.params().length.
4:26
Remember, the params element that
we declared in the annotation is
4:32
a string array.
4:36
Since it's a string array,
we have access to the length property.
4:38
Okay, my next variable I'm
going to call actualParamCount.
4:42
This variable will store the actual number
of parameters on the method object.
4:47
method.GetParameterCount().
4:52
Finally, to compare the two
values in place of true,
4:57
we'll use those two variable names that
we just declared and stored values into.
5:00
So if the annotatedParamCount
< actualParamCount
5:05
Then we must have some missing parameters.
5:14
So, how do we calculate that?
5:16
Well, that is simply a subtraction
problem between those two values.
5:17
So, numMissing = actualParamCount-
annotatedParamCount.
5:21
On to our last method,
hasReturnDescription().
5:31
For this method,
we want to return true in two scenarios.
5:35
Either a, the method is a void method, or
5:39
b, the method's annotation has
a non-empty return val element.
5:41
Let's write a boolean expression for
just that.
5:46
To return true in the first scenario,
5:49
I'll check to see if the method's
return type is Void.
5:51
To do this, I'll call the getReturnType()
method on the method object,
5:53
getReturnType(), and
we'll see if its value equals Void.TYPE.
5:58
In the second scenario,
6:06
we wanna return true when the annotations
returnVal element is empty.
6:07
So to check that,
we'll say doc.returnVal.isEmpty.
6:13
We wanna check for nonempty returnVals, so
6:19
again, I'll negate that boolean
value with the exclamation point.
6:22
At this point we've finished coding
the analysis of our annotation.
6:29
One of the cool things here, is that
there's nothing that we wrote that is
6:32
specific to the MathUtils class,
which means that we can
6:35
use this DocProcessor class to analyze
the doc annotation of any class we like.
6:39
Let's test all this code by
hopping over to the Main class and
6:44
calling the DocProcessor's,
processor method.
6:47
I'll first remove all of our test code
that we wrote while we were practicing
6:50
reflection.
6:53
So I'll call DocProcessor.process and
pass it MathUtils.
6:56
And we're ready to compile and run.
7:05
So back in our console,
I'll compile with javac.
7:08
Specify the out directory as a placement
for our class files, set the class
7:12
path as the src directory, and
we'll type the file that we wanna compile.
7:17
It looks like we have an error here.
7:30
Let's check it out and
see if we can troubleshoot this.
7:31
Looks like I mistyped a variable name
in DocProcessor.java on line 109.
7:35
Let's hop over there and
correct that error and recompile.
7:40
Line 109 is right here.
7:44
Looks like that should
be annotatedParamCount.
7:49
I'll correct that, and
let's see if that was our only error.
7:52
It's saying one error in
our compiler results.
7:55
So, I'm pretty confident here.
7:57
Recompile.
8:00
Great, I'm gonna clear.
8:04
Give myself a little more room for output.
8:06
And let's run this program.
8:09
I'll set the class path
as the out directory and
8:11
let's run com.teamtreehouse.docgen.Main.
8:16
Great, it finds both our sufficient and
8:23
insufficient documentation
on the MathUtils class.
8:25
I'll leave fixing the insufficient
documentation as an exercise for
8:29
you after this video.
8:32
Now that we've looked at
the basics of annotations,
8:35
experimented with
the built-in annotations and
8:37
even built one of our own, you're
ready to encounter them in the wild.
8:40
I've linked to some resources
in the teacher's notes for
8:44
further research, including a few popular
libraries that utilize annotations.
8:46
Having trouble with a specific library?
8:52
Be sure to hit up the forums
of those libraries, or
8:54
even broader coding forums
like StackOverflow.
8:57
Chances are,
9:00
the answer you're looking for is sitting
out there waiting for your visit.
9:01
Happy annotating!
9:05
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