What is the Reflection API?

Question

Accepted Answer

The Reflection API in Java allows inspection and manipulation of classes, methods, and fields at runtime.

Enables dynamic class loading and instantiation: Class clazz = Class.forName('com.example.MyClass');
Access private fields and methods: Field field = clazz.getDeclaredField('myField'); field.setAccessible(true);
Useful for frameworks and libraries: Spring uses reflection for dependency injection.
Can invoke methods dynamically: Method method = clazz.getMethod('myMethod', String.class); method.invoke(instance, 'arg');
Performance overhead: Reflection can be slower than direct access due to additional checks.

Accepted Answer

It's a process of examining or modifying the run time behavior of a class at run time

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