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<Something>?

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