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Reflection Api in java

Vinay 20 Oct 2009 Java, reflection api, Reflection Api in java Views: 5,657 views
The Reflection API allows Java code to examine classes and objects at run time. The new reflection
classes allow you to call another classs methods dynamically at run time. With the reflection classes, you
can also examine an instances fields and change the fields contents.
Reflection is commonly used by programs which require the ability to examine or modify the runtime
behavior of applications running in the Java virtual machine. This is a relatively advanced feature and
should be used only by developers who have a strong grasp of the fundamentals of the language. With
that caveat in mind, reflection is a powerful technique and can enable applications to perform operations
which would otherwise be impossible.
Uses of Reflection
Extensibility Features
An application may make use of external, user-defined classes by creating instances of extensibility
objects using their fully-qualified names.
Class Browsers and Visual Development Environments
A class browser needs to be able to enumerate the members of classes. Visual development environments
can benefit from making use of type information available in reflection to aid the developer in writing
correct code.
Debuggers and Test Tools
Debuggers need to be able to examine private members on classes. Test harnesses can make use of
reflection to systematically call a discoverable set APIs defined on a class, to insure a high level of code
coverage in a test suite.
Drawbacks of Reflection
Reflection is powerful, but should not be used indiscriminately. If it is possible to perform an operation
without using reflection, then it is preferable to avoid using it. The following concerns should be kept in
mind when accessing code via reflection.

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Performance Overhead
Because reflection involves types that are dynamically resolved, certain Java virtual machine
optimizations can not be performed. Consequently, reflective operations have slower performance than
their non-reflective counterparts, and should be avoided in sections of code which are called frequently in
performance-sensitive applications.
Security Restrictions
Reflection requires a runtime permission which may not be present when running under a security
manager. This is in an important consideration for code which has to run in a restricted security context,
such as in an Applet.
Exposure of Internals
Since reflection allows code to perform operations that would be illegal in non-reflective code, such as
accessing private fields and methods, the use of reflection can result in unexpected side-effects, which
may render code dysfunctional and may destroy portability. Reflective code breaks abstractions and
therefore may change behavior with upgrades of the platform.
References
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/reflect/
http://www.javacommerce.com/displaypage.jsp?name=index.sql&id=18272
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Vinay
I am software professional, working on Java/J2EE/ADF technologies i.e
Java,J2ee,Oracle ADF,hibernate,J2ee,PL/sql,Apps for 5+ years.I am
passionate about learning new technologies.I am sharing my knowledge. Give
your views and suggestion on vinay[at]techartifact.com
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