content: /*
   * Copyright (c) 2003, 2004, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
   * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
   *
   * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
   * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
   * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
   * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
   * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
   *
   * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
   * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
   * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
   * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
   * accompanied this code).
   *
   * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
   * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
   * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
   *
   * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
   * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
   * questions.
   */
  
  package java.lang.annotation;
  
  /**
   * Annotation retention policy.  The constants of this enumerated type
   * describe the various policies for retaining annotations.  They are used
   * in conjunction with the {@link Retention} meta-annotation type to specify
   * how long annotations are to be retained.
   *
   * @author  Joshua Bloch
   * @since 1.5
   */
  public enum RetentionPolicy {
      /**
       * Annotations are to be discarded by the compiler.
       */
      SOURCE,
  
      /**
       * Annotations are to be recorded in the class file by the compiler
       * but need not be retained by the VM at run time.  This is the default
       * behavior.
       */
      CLASS,
  
      /**
       * Annotations are to be recorded in the class file by the compiler and
       * retained by the VM at run time, so they may be read reflectively.
       *
       * @see java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedElement
       */
      RUNTIME
  }
  