If the annotation
@Documented is present on the declaration
of an annotation interface A, then any @A annotation on
an element is considered part of the element's public contract.
In more detail, when an annotation interface A is annotated with
Documented, the presence and value of A annotations
are a part of the public contract of the elements A
annotates.
Conversely, if an annotation interface B is not
annotated with Documented, the presence and value of
B annotations are not part of the public contract
of the elements B annotates.
Concretely, if an annotation interface is annotated with Documented,
by default a tool like javadoc will display annotations of that interface
in its output while annotations of annotation interfaces without
Documented will not be displayed.- Since:
- 1.5