package org.strongback.annotation;
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;
/**
* Copyright (c) 2005 Brian Goetz and Tim Peierls.<br>
* Released under the Creative Commons Attribution License<br>
* (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)<br>
* Official home: http://www.jcip.net<br>
* Adopted from Java Concurrency in Practice.
* <p>
* This annotation documents that instances of the annotated class are immutable. This means that its state is seen to others as
* never being changed, even though the actual private internal state may indeed change. Therefore, in an immutable class:
* <ul>
* <li>all public fields are final; and</li>
* <li>all public final reference fields refer to other immutable objects; and</li>
* <li>constructors and methods do not publish references to any internal state which is potentially mutable by the
* implementation.</li>
* </ul>
*/
@Documented
@Target( ElementType.TYPE )
@Retention( RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME )
public @interface Immutable {
}