AnnaBot

Abstract

A domain-specific language has been devised for verification of correct use of Annotation-based metadata in the Java programming language. Annotations are a standard Java 5 mechanism used to attach metadata to types, methods or fields without using an external configuration file. A binary representation of the Annotation becomes part of the compiled class file, for inspection by other components at run time.Java Annotations were introduced into the Java language in 2004 and have become widely used in recent years due to their introduction in the Java Enterprise Edition (EE 5) and elsewhere. Despite that, mainstream development tools have not yet produced a widely-used verification tool to confirm correct configuration and placement of annotations external to the particular runtime component. This verification becomes especially important both as annotations become more widely adopted and as multiple implementations of standards become available, such as the use of either Hibernate or EclipseLink as a provider for the Java Persistence API.It is anticipated that this software will continue to evolve as an open-source software verification tool; the web site for this project has been established as http://www.annabot.org/.