BAEL-4233: Why doesn't a missing annotation cause a ClassNotFoundException at runtime? (#11024)

core-java-modules/core-java-annotations/src/main/java/com/baeldung/missingannotation/A.java

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package com.baeldung.missingannotation;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+public @interface A {
+}

core-java-modules/core-java-annotations/src/main/java/com/baeldung/missingannotation/B.java

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package com.baeldung.missingannotation;
+
+@A
+@C(D.class)
+public class B {
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        System.out.println("It worked");
+    }
+}

core-java-modules/core-java-annotations/src/main/java/com/baeldung/missingannotation/C.java

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package com.baeldung.missingannotation;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+public @interface C {
+    Class<?> value();
+}

core-java-modules/core-java-annotations/src/main/java/com/baeldung/missingannotation/D.java

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+package com.baeldung.missingannotation;
+
+public class D {
+}