Package getAnnotation() method in Java with Examples

The getAnnotation() method of java.lang.Package class is used to get the annotation of the specified annotation type, if such an annotation is present in this Package. The method returns that Package in the form of an object.

Syntax:

public T getAnnotation(Class<T> annotationClass)

Parameter: This method accepts a parameter annotationClass which is the type of the annotation to get.

Return Value: This method returns the specified object of the annotation Package.

Exception: This method throws:

NullPointerException: if the given annotation class is null.

Below programs demonstrate the getAnnotation() method.

Example 1:

// Java program to demonstrate 
// getAnnotation() method 

import java.util.*; 

import java.lang.annotation.*; 

// create a custom Annotation 

@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME) 

@interface Annotation { 

    // This annotation has two attributes. 

    public String key(); 

    public String value(); 
} 

// call Annotation for method 
// and pass values for annotation 

@Annotation(key = "GFG", value = "GeeksForGeeks") 

public class Test { 

    public static void main(String[] args) 

        throws ClassNotFoundException 

    { 

        // returns the Class object for this class 

        Class myClass = Test.class; 

        System.out.println("Class represented by myClass: "

                           + myClass.toString()); 

        // Get the annotation 

        // using getAnnotation() method 

        System.out.println( 

            "Annotation of myClass: "

            + myClass.getAnnotation( 

                  Annotation.class)); 

    } 
}

Output:

Class represented by myClass: class Test
Annotation of myClass: @Annotation(key=GFG, value=GeeksForGeeks)

Example 2:

// Java program to demonstrate 
// getAnnotation() method 

import java.util.*; 

import java.lang.annotation.*; 

// Class with no annotations 
// getAnnotation() will return null 

public class Test { 

    public static void main(String[] args) 

        throws ClassNotFoundException 

    { 

        // returns the Class object for this class 

        Class myClass = Test.class; 

        System.out.println("Class represented by myClass: "

                           + myClass.toString()); 

        // Get the annotation 

        // using getAnnotation() method 

        System.out.println( 

            "Annotation of myClass: "

            + myClass.getAnnotation( 

                  Annotation.class)); 

    } 
}