One version of Parameter lacks the getAnnotatedType() method

[mernst]

The variant of class com.google.common.reflect.Parameter that is defined in file android/guava/src/com/google/common/reflect/Parameter.java lacks the getAnnotatedType() method that appears in
file guava/src/com/google/common/reflect/Parameter.java. I think this method should appear in the Android version too, since (according to my reading of https://developer.android.com/studio/write/java8-support) Android does support type annotations.

[netdpb]

The note I see there about type annotations says: "Type annotation information is only available at compile time, and not at runtime." That suggests that the reflection API doesn't have access to type annotations. Does that sound correct?

[mernst]

Oh, is Parameter only used at run time, never at compile time? It's not documented either way. (It is in a package named reflect..., which is a strong hint, but I've seen such inconsistencies in some projects and didn't want to assume.)

Thanks for the correction to my (lack of) assumption; I appreciate your help!

When @Nullable is a type annotation, how will tests like nullPointerTester and testNullPointers and testNullPointerExceptions work? I was actually trying to make those tests pass when @Nullable is a type annotation.

[cpovirk]

There are probably half a dozen unfortunate things that are intersecting here.

Among them:

• The "Android" branch also supports JDK 1.7. This means that it's limited to Java 7 APIs, so we can't use getAnnotatedParameterTypes (from Executable, @since 1.8). We are looking to drop support for Java 7, but...
• As @netdpb notes, Android's copy of Executable doesn't support getAnnotatedParameterTypes to this day :( As I understand it, the information isn't available in their equivalent to JVM bytecode.
• To keep NullPointerTester tests working, we have historically annotated types with a declaration annotation -- sometimes just in the Android backport, sometimes in both "flavors" of Guava.

The long-term plan will likely be:

• drop Java 7 support
• use type annotations everywhere
• make Parameter use getAnnotatedParameterTypes when running in a JRE (but skip it when running under an Android VM)
• run NullPointerTester tests only under a JRE

I'm not sure if any of that helps with the immediate NullPointerTester issue you're encountering, though.

[mernst]

Chris, the long-term plan you laid out is actually very helpful. Thanks!

I think I will just disable the NullPointerTests under Android for now, extricating myself from the rat's nest I have wandered into.