Software Engineering
In programming, annotations at one time were used mainly for the purpose of expanding code documentation and comments. They were typically ignored when the code is compiled or executed. Today (mid-2012), annotations have been greatly expanded in some languages (such as Java) and by frameworks built on top of the languages (such as Spring) so they can add significant runtime features to an application. There are annotations for things such as making objects automatically (sort of) storable in a database, for making objects cachable or for asserting multi-threading behavior of code.
Not only code but text manipulated by a program can be annotated; e.g. A markup language (such as XML or HTML) is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text.
Read more about this topic: Annotation
Famous quotes containing the word engineering:
“Mining today is an affair of mathematics, of finance, of the latest in engineering skill. Cautious men behind polished desks in San Francisco figure out in advance the amount of metal to a cubic yard, the number of yards washed a day, the cost of each operation. They have no need of grubstakes.”
—Merle Colby, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)