1 /*
   2  * Copyright (c) 2005, 2006, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
   3  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
   4  *
   5  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
   6  * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
   7  * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
   8  * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
   9  * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
  10  *
  11  * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
  12  * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
  13  * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
  14  * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
  15  * accompanied this code).
  16  *
  17  * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
  18  * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
  19  * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
  20  *
  21  * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
  22  * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
  23  * questions.
  24  */
  25 
  26 /**
  27  * Provides interfaces for tools which can be invoked from a program,
  28  * for example, compilers.
  29  *
  30  * <p>These interfaces and classes are required as part of the
  31  * Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE),
  32  * but there is no requirement to provide any tools implementing them.
  33  *
  34  * <p>Unless explicitly allowed, all methods in this package might
  35  * throw a {@linkplain java.lang.NullPointerException} if given a
  36  * {@code null} argument or if given a
  37  * {@linkplain java.lang.Iterable list or collection} containing
  38  * {@code null} elements.  Similarly, no method may return
  39  * {@code null} unless explicitly allowed.
  40  *
  41  * <p>This package is the home of the Java programming language compiler framework.  This
  42  * framework allows clients of the framework to locate and run
  43  * compilers from programs.  The framework also provides Service
  44  * Provider Interfaces (SPI) for structured access to diagnostics
  45  * ({@linkplain javax.tools.DiagnosticListener}) as well as a file
  46  * abstraction for overriding file access ({@linkplain
  47  * javax.tools.JavaFileManager} and {@linkplain
  48  * javax.tools.JavaFileObject}).  See {@linkplain
  49  * javax.tools.JavaCompiler} for more details on using the SPI.
  50  *
  51  * <p>There is no requirement for a compiler at runtime.  However, if
  52  * a default compiler is provided, it can be located using the
  53  * {@linkplain javax.tools.ToolProvider}, for example:
  54  *
  55  * <p>{@code JavaCompiler compiler = ToolProvider.getSystemJavaCompiler();}
  56  *
  57  * <p>It is possible to provide alternative compilers or tools
  58  * through the {@linkplain java.util.ServiceLoader service provider
  59  * mechanism}.
  60  *
  61  * <p>For example, if {@code com.vendor.VendorJavaCompiler} is a
  62  * provider of the {@code JavaCompiler} tool then its jar file
  63  * would contain the file {@code
  64  * META-INF/services/javax.tools.JavaCompiler}.  This file would
  65  * contain the single line:
  66  *
  67  * <p>{@code com.vendor.VendorJavaCompiler}
  68  *
  69  * <p>If the jar file is on the class path, VendorJavaCompiler can be
  70  * located using code like this:
  71  *
  72  * <p>{@code JavaCompiler compiler = ServiceLoader.load(JavaCompiler.class).iterator().next();}
  73  *
  74  * @author Peter von der Ah&eacute;
  75  * @author Jonathan Gibbons
  76  * @since 1.6
  77  */
  78 package javax.tools;