In recent versions of javac, AnnotationValue#toString returns a string representation of the annotation value that uses simple names. If the string is used in generated source code, it may require additional imports.

For example, instead of the class literal com.pkg.Bar.class, javac now returns just Bar.class, which may require adding an import for for com.pkg.Bar.

auto-common's AnnotationValues#toString method produces a string that uses fully qualified names for annotations, class literals, and enum constants, ensuring that source code containing that string will compile without additional imports.

TIP: AnnotationValues#toString may be beneficial even if the string isn‘t being used in generated code, e.g. if it’s part of a diagnostic message or assertion failure message, since the fully qualified names makes it clearer which types are being referred to.