001    // Copyright 2007, 2011 The Apache Software Foundation
002    //
003    // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
004    // you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
005    // You may obtain a copy of the License at
006    //
007    //     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
008    //
009    // Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
010    // distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
011    // WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
012    // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
013    // limitations under the License.
014    
015    package org.apache.tapestry5.ioc;
016    
017    import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
018    
019    /**
020     * A source of annotations. This interface is used to mask where the annotations come from (for example, from a Method,
021     * a Class, or some other source).
022     */
023    public interface AnnotationProvider
024    {
025        /**
026         * Searches for the specified annotation, returning the matching annotation instance.
027         *
028         * @param <T>
029         * @param annotationClass used to select the annotation to return
030         * @return the annotation, or null if not found
031         */
032        <T extends Annotation> T getAnnotation(Class<T> annotationClass);
033    }