Why is Class.getAnnotation() requiring me to do a cast?

Question

I\'m using Java 1.6.0_25.

I have an annotation defined:

@Target(ElementType.TYPE)
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface Resource {
           


        

Answer 1

What is the type of cls? Is it raw Class or is it Class?

If it's the raw type Class, then the cast is necessary. If you make it at least Class instead of Class, you won't need the cast anymore.

Class cls = Example.class;

// Error: Type mismatch, cannot convert from Annotation to Resource
Resource anno = cls.getAnnotation(Resource.class);

Class cls2 = Example.class;
Resource anno = cls2.getAnnotation(Resource.class); // OK

Class cls3 = Example.class;
Resource anno = cls3.getAnnotation(Resource.class); // OK