Reflection API 1
Reflection means ability of a software to analyze itself. In Java, Reflection API provides facility to analyze and change runtime behaviour of a Class, at runtime.
For example, using reflection at the runtime you can determine what method, field, constructor or modifers a class supports
What is reflect package ??
java.lang.reflect package encapsulates several important interfaces and classes. These classes and interface define methods which are used for reflection.
Some Important Classes of java.lang.reflect package
| Class | What it does ? |
| Array | allow you to dynamically create and manipulate arrays. |
| Constructor | gives information about constructor of a class. |
| Field | provide information about field. |
| Method | provide information about method. |
| Modifier | provide information about class and member access modifier. |
| Proxy | supports dynamic proxy classes. |
Apart from these classes java.lang.Class is another very important class used in Reflection API.
The java.lang.Class class performs mainly two tasks:
1.provides methods to get the metadata of a class at run time.
2.provides methods to examine and change the run time behavior of a class.
Uses of Reflection
1. Developing IDE (Integrated Development Environment) e.g. Eclipse, MyEclipse, NetBeans etc.
2. Debugging and Test tools.
3. Loading drivers and providing dynamic information.
Uses of Reflection
1. Low performance
2. Security risk
3. Violation of Oops concept.
