Which types can be used for Java annotation members?

Today I wanted to create my first annotation interface following this documentation and I got this compiler error

Invalid type for annotation member":
public @interface MyAnnotation {
    Object myParameter;
    ^^^^^^
}

Obviously Object cannot be used as type of an annotation member. Unfortunately I could not find any information on which types can be used in general.

This I found out using trial-and-error:

• String → Valid
• int → Valid
• Integer → Invalid (Surprisingly)
• String[] → Valid (Surprisingly)
• Object → Invalid

Perhaps someone can shed some light on which types are actually allowed and why.

It's specified by section 9.6.1 of the JLS. The annotation member types must be one of:

• primitive
• String
• an Enum
• another Annotation
• Class
• an array of any of the above

It does seem restrictive, but no doubt there are reasons for it.

Also note that multidimensional arrays (e.g. String[][]) are implicitly forbidden by the above rule.

Arrays of Class are not allowed as described in this answer.

I agree with Skaffman for the Types available.

Additional restriction : it has to be a compile-time constant.

For example, the following are forbidden:

@MyAnnot("a" + myConstantStringMethod())
@MyAnnot(1 + myConstantIntMethod())