#Java reflection code example how to#

getMethod ( 'toExternalForm' ) Object methodCallResult = method. newInstance ( '' ) // fetches the `toExternalForm` method and invokes it on // the instance that was just created Method method = type. forName ( '' ) // fetches the constructor that takes a `String` argument // and uses it to create a new instance for the given string Constructor constructor = type. Here’s how I would do the same with Java’s reflection API: // the gateway to reflection is the `Class` instance // for the class you want to operate on Class type = Class. I decided at compile time (meaning, when I was writing the code) that I wanted to create an URL object, and call some method in it. First as plain Java code: URL url = new URL ( '' ) String urlString = url. Instead of building from the ground up I want to start with a simple example.

Knowing about annotations unlocks a separate section. To get the most out of it you should have a good understanding of how Java is structured, specifically what classes and methods are and how they relate. After it you will be ready to get started or work through longer tutorials. This quick tip is intended to give you a high-level understanding of what reflection is, what it looks like in Java, and what it could be used for. With them it is possible to interact with types that were not known at compile time, for example to create instances of an unknown class and call methods on them. To that end, Java’s reflection API offers types like Class, Field, Constructor, Method, Annotation, and others.

#Java reflection code example how to#

at run time and to defer the decision on how to use them from compile time to run time. A language that is capable of reflection, like Java is, allows developers to inspect types, methods, fields, annotations, etc.