How do you use Java 1.6 Annotation Processing to perform compile time weaving?

Question

I have created an annotation, applied it to a DTO and written a Java 1.6 style annotationProcessor. I can see how to have the annotationProcessor write a new source file, w

Answer 1

You have to use internal compiler's classes – some inspiration:

• AOP or APT for overriding methods from super classes
• RomanNumeralProcessor.java
• Java Multiline String

But it is brinkmanship. Your program will compile only on Sun/OpenJDK and there can be problems in future versions (internal API can change). Although once compiled, it is standard bytecode and will run everywhere.

BTW: if you want use it in Eclipse, you should add some special support for it because Eclipse uses non-standard compiler. Your design should be more complex and you should add a level of abstraction to your processor – like Lombok does.