package org.checkerframework.dataflow.qual;
import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;
/**
* A method is called <em>side-effect-free</em> if it has no visible side-effects, such as setting a
* field of an object that existed before the method was called.
*
* <p>Only the visible side-effects are important. The method is allowed to cache the answer to a
* computationally expensive query, for instance. It is also allowed to modify newly-created
* objects, and a constructor is side-effect-free if it does not modify any objects that existed
* before it was called.
*
* <p>This annotation is important to pluggable type-checking because if some fact about an object
* is known before a call to such a method, then the fact is still known afterwards, even if the
* fact is about some non-final field. When any non-{@code @SideEffectFree} method is called, then a
* pluggable type-checker must assume that any field of any accessible object might have been
* modified, which annuls the effect of flow-sensitive type refinement and prevents the pluggable
* type-checker from making conclusions that are obvious to a programmer.
*
* <p>Also see {@link Pure}, which means both side-effect-free and {@link Deterministic}.
*
* <p><b>Analysis:</b> The Checker Framework performs a conservative analysis to verify a
* {@code @SideEffectFree} annotation. The Checker Framework issues a warning if the method uses any
* of the following Java constructs:
*
* <ol>
* <li>Assignment to any expression, except for local variables and method parameters.
* <li>A method invocation of a method that is not {@code @SideEffectFree}.
* <li>Construction of a new object where the constructor is not {@code @SideEffectFree}.
* </ol>
*
* These rules are conservative: any code that passes the checks is side-effect-free, but the
* Checker Framework may issue false positive warnings, for code that uses one of the forbidden
* constructs but is side-effect-free nonetheless. In particular, a method that caches its result
* will be rejected.
*
* <p>In fact, the rules are so conservative that checking is currently disabled by default, but can
* be enabled via the {@code -AcheckPurityAnnotations} command-line option.
*
* <p>
*
* @checker_framework.manual #type-refinement-purity Side effects, determinism, purity, and
* flow-sensitive analysis
* @author Stefan Heule
*/
@Documented
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target({ElementType.METHOD, ElementType.CONSTRUCTOR})
public @interface SideEffectFree {}