ElementType
  public
  
  final
  
  enum
  ElementType
  
  
  
  
    extends Enum<ElementType>
  
  
  
  
  
  
| java.lang.Object | ||
| ↳ | java.lang.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 | |
|---|---|
| ElementType | ANNOTATION_TYPEAnnotation interface declaration (Formerly known as an annotation type.) | 
| ElementType | CONSTRUCTORConstructor declaration | 
| ElementType | FIELDField declaration (includes enum constants) | 
| ElementType | LOCAL_VARIABLELocal variable declaration | 
| ElementType | METHODMethod declaration | 
| ElementType | MODULEModule declaration. | 
| ElementType | PACKAGEPackage declaration | 
| ElementType | PARAMETERFormal parameter declaration | 
| ElementType | RECORD_COMPONENTRecord component | 
| ElementType | TYPEClass, interface (including annotation interface), enum, or record declaration | 
| ElementType | TYPE_PARAMETERType parameter declaration | 
| ElementType | TYPE_USEUse of a type | 
| Public methods | |
|---|---|
| 
        
        
        static
        
        
        ElementType | 
      valueOf(String name)
       | 
| 
        
        
        static
        final
        
        ElementType[] | 
      values()
       | 
| Inherited methods | |
|---|---|
Enum values
ANNOTATION_TYPE
public static final ElementType ANNOTATION_TYPE
Annotation interface declaration (Formerly known as an annotation type.)
CONSTRUCTOR
public static final ElementType CONSTRUCTOR
Constructor declaration
FIELD
public static final ElementType FIELD
Field declaration (includes enum constants)
LOCAL_VARIABLE
public static final ElementType LOCAL_VARIABLE
Local variable declaration
PARAMETER
public static final ElementType PARAMETER
Formal parameter declaration
RECORD_COMPONENT
public static final ElementType RECORD_COMPONENT
Record component
TYPE
public static final ElementType TYPE
Class, interface (including annotation interface), enum, or record declaration
TYPE_PARAMETER
public static final ElementType TYPE_PARAMETER
Type parameter declaration
Public methods
Content and code samples on this page are subject to the licenses described in the Content License. Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-09-17 UTC.
