001    /*
002     *  This file is part of the Jikes RVM project (http://jikesrvm.org).
003     *
004     *  This file is licensed to You under the Eclipse Public License (EPL);
005     *  You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You
006     *  may obtain a copy of the License at
007     *
008     *      http://www.opensource.org/licenses/eclipse-1.0.php
009     *
010     *  See the COPYRIGHT.txt file distributed with this work for information
011     *  regarding copyright ownership.
012     */
013    package org.vmmagic;
014    
015    import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
016    import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
017    import java.lang.annotation.Target;
018    import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
019    import java.lang.annotation.Inherited;
020    
021    /**
022     * A Pragma is a mechanism for supplying information to the compiler to alter the code it
023     * generates for a method. A Pragma is similar to an {@link org.vmmagic.Intrinsic}
024     * but it does not provide any behaviour but provides information to the compiler that modifies
025     * optimizations, calling conventions and activation frame layout.
026     *
027     * <p>If the Pragma annotation is applied to a method then then the method is a handled specially
028     * by the compiler. If the Pragma annotation is applied to a class then then all the methods in that
029     * class are handled specially by the compiler.</p>
030     *
031     * <p>NOTE: At the current time the Pragma annotation is only used for documentation
032     * purposes but in the near future it is expected that the semantics of the annotation will
033     * be enforced by the compiler.</p>
034     */
035    @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
036    @Target({ElementType.TYPE,ElementType.ANNOTATION_TYPE})
037    @Inherited
038    public @interface Pragma { }