Added in API level 1

ElementType

class ElementType
kotlin.Any
   ↳ kotlin.Enum<java.lang.annotation.ElementType>
   ↳ java.lang.annotation.ElementType

The constants of this enumerated class provide a simple classification of the syntactic locations where annotations may appear in a Java program. These constants are used in Target meta-annotations to specify where it is legal to write annotations of a given type.

The syntactic locations where annotations may appear are split into declaration contexts, where annotations apply to declarations, and type contexts, where annotations apply to types used in declarations and expressions.

The constants ANNOTATION_TYPE, CONSTRUCTOR, FIELD, LOCAL_VARIABLE, METHOD, PACKAGE, MODULE, PARAMETER, TYPE, and TYPE_PARAMETER correspond to the declaration contexts in JLS 9.6.4.1.

For example, an annotation whose interface is meta-annotated with @Target(ElementType.FIELD) may only be written as a modifier for a field declaration.

The constant TYPE_USE corresponds to the type contexts in JLS 4.11, as well as to two declaration contexts: class and interface declarations (including annotation declarations) and type parameter declarations.

For example, an annotation whose interface is meta-annotated with @Target(ElementType.TYPE_USE) may be written on the class or interface of a field (or within the class or interface of the field, if it is a nested or parameterized class or interface, or array class), and may also appear as a modifier for, say, a class declaration.

The TYPE_USE constant includes class and interface declarations and type parameter declarations as a convenience for designers of type checkers which give semantics to annotation interfaces. For example, if the annotation interface NonNull is meta-annotated with @Target(ElementType.TYPE_USE), then @NonNull class C {...} could be treated by a type checker as indicating that all variables of class C are non-null, while still allowing variables of other classes to be non-null or not non-null based on whether @NonNull appears at the variable's declaration.

Summary

Enum values

Annotation interface declaration (Formerly known as an annotation type.)

Constructor declaration

Field declaration (includes enum constants)

Local variable declaration

Method declaration

Module declaration.

Package declaration

Formal parameter declaration

Record component

Class, interface (including annotation interface), enum, or record declaration

Type parameter declaration

Use of a type

Enum values

ANNOTATION_TYPE

Added in API level 1
enum val ANNOTATION_TYPE : ElementType

Annotation interface declaration (Formerly known as an annotation type.)

CONSTRUCTOR

Added in API level 1
enum val CONSTRUCTOR : ElementType

Constructor declaration

FIELD

Added in API level 1
enum val FIELD : ElementType

Field declaration (includes enum constants)

LOCAL_VARIABLE

Added in API level 1
enum val LOCAL_VARIABLE : ElementType

Local variable declaration

METHOD

Added in API level 1
enum val METHOD : ElementType

Method declaration

MODULE

Added in API level 31
enum val MODULE : ElementType

Module declaration.

PACKAGE

Added in API level 1
enum val PACKAGE : ElementType

Package declaration

PARAMETER

Added in API level 1
enum val PARAMETER : ElementType

Formal parameter declaration

RECORD_COMPONENT

Added in API level 34
enum val RECORD_COMPONENT : ElementType

Record component

TYPE

Added in API level 1
enum val TYPE : ElementType

Class, interface (including annotation interface), enum, or record declaration

TYPE_PARAMETER

Added in API level 26
enum val TYPE_PARAMETER : ElementType

Type parameter declaration

TYPE_USE

Added in API level 26
enum val TYPE_USE : ElementType

Use of a type