Annotation attribute must be a class literal? Why? Constants should be fine too

Question

Can someone explain why String and Class annotation parameters are expected differently? Why does the compiler require literals for Classes, wherby accepting constants for Strin

Answer 1

Look this:

public static final Class TEST_EXCEPTION = RuntimeException.class;

The class should be a Throwable that the compiler is able to check. So, try this:

public static final Class TEST_EXCEPTION = RuntimeException.class;