Java annotations - Identifier or TypeName

Question

The Java Language Specification states that a normal annotation is in the format

NormalAnnotation:
  @ TypeName ( ElementValuePairs_opt )

A single-element annotation is in the format:

SingleElementAnnotation:
  @ Identifier ( ElementValue )

I do not understand, why this inconsistency, why is a normal annotation a TypeName and a single element annotation an Identifier? I believe the reference to Identifier might be a mistake in the specification since Identifier is not qualified and javac accepts AnnotationDeclarations that are qualified, for both normal annotations and single element annotations.

Answer 1

The reference to Identifier is a mistake in the specification since an identifier cannot be qualified (you can write @java.lang.SuppressWarnings("unchecked") but java.lang.SuppressWarnings is not a legal identifier). Javac accepts AnnotationDeclarations that are qualified, for both normal annotations and single element annotations. The mistake appears to be recently introduced; older versions of the JLS do not have this problem.

Answer 2

I think there is a mistake in the grammar documentation. The single annotation-element and the marker annotations are shorthand for the normal annotation.

You can also see the Java 1.5/1.6 specification: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se5.0/html/interfaces.html#9.7

The single-element annotation is indicated as:

SingleElementAnnotation:
    @ TypeName ( ElementValue )