Enhancements in Javadoc, Java SE 8
The following new APIs were added to the Javadoc tool in Java SE 8:
- The new DocTree API involves the introduction of a scanner that enables you to traverse source code that is represented by an abstract syntax tree. This extends the Compiler Tree API to provide structured access to the content of javadoc comments. For more information, see JEP 105.
- Javadoc Access API - The javax.tools package contains classes and interfaces that enable you to invoke the Javadoc tool directly from a Java application, without executing a new process. For more information, see JEP 106.
- Grouping Methods By Type- The "Method Summary" section of the generated documentation of a class or interface has been restructured. Method descriptions in this section are grouped by type. By default, all methods are listed. You can click a tab to view methods of a particular type (static, instance, abstract, concrete, or deprecated, if they exist in the class or interface).
- The javadoc tool now has support for checking the content of javadoc comments for issues that could lead to various problems, such as invalid HTML or accessibility issues, in the files that are generated by javadoc. The feature is enabled by default, and can also be controlled by the new -Xdoclint option. For more details, see the output from running "javadoc -X". This feature is also available in javac, although it is not enabled by default there.
