Adding Behavior to Java Annotations

Java's Annotations provide a way to add data to program elements. Annotations are used to configure containers, describe persistence configuration, set security roles, and are defined by nearly every recent JSR standard. This presentation explains the processing options available for consuming Annotations and demonstrates the techniques with live code demonstrations.

The presentation:

introduces Annotations and how to create custom Annotations,
surveys the techniques that can add implementation effects from Annotations (code generation, bytecode transformation, runtime reflection),
demonstrates adding behavioral effect to an example with APT, Reflection, Javassist, and AspectJ,
wraps up with best practices for using and defining Annotations.

No prior experience is necessary, and attendees will learn how to define and to provide behavior for custom Annotations in their own systems.

About John Heintz

Agile/Kanban coach, REST architect, software craftsman

John D. Heintz is a husband, father, developer, Agilist, entrepreneur. After studying electrons in college, John's intuition led him to pursue software, and he's been a digital craftsmen since. Always seeking solutions with higher leverage and deeper simplicity has led John to important methods and tools. John's approach to building systems and teams started with leading his first Scrum team in 1999, included XP and TDD, and now Agile and Lean methods are part of his daily work and consulting. John has built single-source hyperdocument SGML publishing systems, a version control CORBA/Python CMS, an AspectJ dependency acquisition framework, added test automation to many Java and .NET systems, coached a 100-person Agile/Lean game studio, and built RESTful Web integration systems. John has launched his own company, Gist Labs, to further his focus on essential innovation.

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