Reflective programming

{{Short description|Ability of a process to examine and modify itself}} {{distinguish|Reflection (computer graphics)}}

In computer science, '''reflective programming''' or '''reflection''' is the ability of a process to examine, introspect, and modify its own structure and behavior.<ref>{{Citation | title = A Tutorial on Behavioral Reflection and its Implementation by Jacques Malenfant et al. | publisher = unknown | url = http://www2.parc.com/csl/groups/sda/projects/reflection96/docs/malenfant/malenfant.pdf | access-date = 23 June 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170821214626/http://www2.parc.com/csl/groups/sda/projects/reflection96/docs/malenfant/malenfant.pdf | archive-date = 21 August 2017 }}</ref>

==Historical background== The earliest computers were programmed in their native assembly languages, which were inherently reflective, as these original architectures could be programmed by defining instructions as data and using self-modifying code. As the bulk of programming moved to higher-level compiled languages such as ALGOL, COBOL, Fortran, Pascal, and C, this reflective ability largely disappeared until new programming languages with reflection built into their type systems appeared.{{Citation needed|date=July 2015}}

Brian Cantwell Smith's 1982 doctoral dissertation introduced the notion of computational reflection in procedural programming languages and the notion of the meta-circular interpreter as a component of 3-Lisp.<ref>Brian Cantwell Smith, [http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/15961 Procedural Reflection in Programming Languages], Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, PhD dissertation, 1982.</ref><ref>Brian C. Smith. [http://publications.csail.mit.edu/lcs/specpub.php?id=840 Reflection and semantics in a procedural language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151213034343/http://publications.csail.mit.edu/lcs/specpub.php?id=840 |date=2015-12-13 }}. Technical Report MIT-LCS-TR-272, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 1982.</ref>

==Uses== Reflection helps programmers make generic software libraries to display data, process different formats of data, perform serialization and deserialization of data for communication, or do bundling and unbundling of data for containers or bursts of communication.

Effective use of reflection almost always requires a plan: A design framework, encoding description, object library, a map of a database or entity relations.

Reflection makes a language more suited to network-oriented code. For example, it assists languages such as Java to operate well in networks by enabling libraries for serialization, bundling and varying data formats. Languages without reflection such as C are required to use auxiliary compilers for tasks like Abstract Syntax Notation to produce code for serialization and bundling.

Reflection can be used for observing and modifying program execution at runtime. A reflection-oriented program component can monitor the execution of an enclosure of code and can modify itself according to a desired goal of that enclosure. This is typically accomplished by dynamically assigning program code at runtime.

In object-oriented programming languages such as Java, reflection allows ''inspection'' of classes, interfaces, fields and methods at runtime without knowing the names of the interfaces, fields, methods at compile time. It also allows ''instantiation'' of new objects and ''invocation'' of methods.

Reflection is often used as part of software testing, such as for the runtime creation/instantiation of mock objects.

Reflection is also a key strategy for metaprogramming.

In some object-oriented programming languages such as C# and Java, reflection can be used to bypass member accessibility rules. For C#-properties this can be achieved by writing directly onto the (usually invisible) backing field of a non-public property. It is also possible to find non-public methods of classes and types and manually invoke them. This works for project-internal files as well as external libraries such as .NET's assemblies and Java's archives.

==Implementation== {{Unreferenced section|date=January 2008}} A language that supports reflection provides a number of features available at runtime that would otherwise be difficult to accomplish in a lower-level language. Some of these features are the abilities to: * Discover and modify source-code constructions (such as code blocks, classes, methods, protocols, etc.) as first-class objects at runtime. * Convert a string matching the symbolic name of a class or function into a reference to or invocation of that class or function.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CLHS: Function INTERN |url=http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/doc/CommonLISP/HyperSpec/Body/fun_intern.html |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=www.ai.mit.edu}}</ref> * Evaluate a string as if it were a source-code statement at runtime.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Built-in Functions |url=https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=Python documentation |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-21 |title=eval() - JavaScript {{!}} MDN |url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/eval |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=MDN Web Docs |language=en-US}}</ref> * Create a new interpreter for the language's bytecode to give a new meaning or purpose for a programming construct.

These features can be implemented in different ways. In MOO, reflection forms a natural part of everyday programming idiom. When verbs (methods) are called, various variables such as <code>verb</code> (the name of the verb being called) and <code>this</code> (the object on which the verb is called) are populated to give the context of the call. Security is typically managed by accessing the caller stack programmatically: Since <code>callers()</code> is a list of the methods by which the current verb was eventually called, performing tests on <code>callers()[0]</code> (the command invoked by the original user) allows the verb to protect itself against unauthorised use.

Compiled languages rely on their runtime system to provide information about the source code. A compiled Objective-C executable, for example, records the names of all methods in a block of the executable, providing a table to correspond these with the underlying methods (or selectors for these methods) compiled into the program. In a compiled language that supports runtime creation of functions, such as Common Lisp, the runtime environment must include a compiler or an interpreter.

Reflection can be implemented for languages without built-in reflection by using a program transformation system to define automated source-code changes.

==Security considerations==

Reflection may allow a user to create unexpected control flow paths through an application, potentially bypassing security measures. This may be exploited by attackers.<ref>{{cite report |first1=Paulo |last1=Barros |first2=René |last2=Just |first3=Suzanne |last3=Millstein |first4=Paul |last4=Vines |first5=Werner |last5=Dietl |first6=Marcelo |last6=d'Amorim |first7=Michael D. |last7=Ernst |date=August 2015 |title=Static Analysis of Implicit Control Flow: Resolving Java Reflection and Android Intents |url=https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/pubs/implicit-control-flow-tr150801.pdf |publisher=University of Washington |id=UW-CSE-15-08-01 |access-date=October 7, 2021 }}</ref> Historical vulnerabilities in Java caused by unsafe reflection allowed code retrieved from potentially untrusted remote machines to break out of the Java sandbox security mechanism. A large scale study of 120 Java vulnerabilities in 2013 concluded that unsafe reflection is the most common vulnerability in Java, though not the most exploited.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Eauvidoum, Ieu |author2=disk noise |date=October 5, 2021 |title=Twenty years of Escaping the Java Sandbox |url=http://phrack.org/issues/70/7.html#article |magazine=Phrack |volume=10 |issue=46 |access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref>

==Runtime Performance==

Reflective programming commonly introduces a non-negligible runtime performance overhead. Because reflective operations are resolved dynamically at execution time, many Java compiler and JVM optimizations—such as method inlining, static binding, and aggressive just-in-time specialization—cannot be fully applied. As a consequence, reflective calls are typically slower than their statically resolved counterparts. Microbenchmark and application-level studies on Java have shown that reflective operations can incur substantial runtime overhead, especially for method invocation and dynamic object creation, with slowdowns ranging from around 20–40% in moderate cases to more than 300× in heavily reflective dispatch scenarios.<ref name="Garcia2026">Miguel Garcia, Francisco Ortin. [https://doi.org/10.1145/3815583 Characterizing the Usage and Performance Impact of Java Reflection: An Empirical Study], ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 2026.</ref> In sequential applications, reflection can significantly increase execution time and memory consumption when used in performance-critical code paths. In multithreaded applications, reflective implementations generally preserve scalability, but still exhibit noticeably higher absolute execution times—commonly between 1.5x and 10× slower—than equivalent non-reflective code.<ref name="Garcia2026" />

==Examples== The following code snippets create an instance {{code|foo}} of class {{code|Foo}} and invoke its method {{code|PrintHello}}. For each programming language, normal and reflection-based call sequences are shown.

=== Common Lisp === The following is an example in Common Lisp using the Common Lisp Object System:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp"> (defclass foo () ()) (defmethod print-hello ((f foo)) (format T "Hello from ~S~%" f))

;; Normal, without reflection (let ((foo (make-instance 'foo))) (print-hello foo))

;; With reflection to look up the class named "foo" and the method ;; named "print-hello" that specializes on "foo". (let* ((foo-class (find-class (read-from-string "foo"))) (print-hello-method (find-method (symbol-function (read-from-string "print-hello")) nil (list foo-class)))) (funcall (sb-mop:method-generic-function print-hello-method) (make-instance foo-class))) </syntaxhighlight>

=== C === Reflection is not possible in C, though parts of reflection can be emulated.

<syntaxhighlight lang="c"> #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h>

typedef struct { // ... } Foo;

typedef void (*Method)(void*);

// The method: Foo::printHello void Foo_printHello(maybe_unused void* this) { (void)this; // Instance ignored for a static method printf("Hello, world!\n"); }

// Simulated method table typedef struct { const char* name; Method fn; } MethodEntry;

MethodEntry fooMethods[] = { { "printHello", Foo_printHello }, { NULL, NULL } // Sentinel to mark end };

// Simulate reflective method lookup nodiscard Method findMethodByName(const char* name) { for (size_t i = 0; fooMethods[i].name; i++) { if (strcmp(fooMethods[i].name, name) == 0) { return fooMethods[i].fn; } } return NULL; }

int main() { // Without reflection Foo fooInstance; Foo_printHello(&fooInstance);

// With emulated reflection Foo* reflectedFoo = (Foo*)malloc(sizeof(Foo)); if (!reflectedFoo) { fprintf(stderr, "Memory allocation failed\n"); return EXIT_FAILURE; }

const char* methodName = "printHello"; Method m = findMethodByName(methodName);

if (m) { m(reflectedFoo); } else { fprintf(stderr, "Method '%s' not found\n", methodName); }

free(reflectedFoo); return EXIT_SUCCESS; } </syntaxhighlight>

=== C++ === The following is an example in C++ (using reflection added in C++26).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Standard library header <meta> (C++26)|url=https://en.cppreference.com/cpp/header/meta|author=cppreference.com|publisher=cppreference.com|website=cppreference.com|access-date=17 May 2026}}</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp"> import std;

using std::string_view; using std::views::filter; using namespace std::meta;

consteval bool isNonstaticMethod(info mem) noexcept { return is_class_member(mem) && !is_static_member(mem) && is_function(mem); }

consteval info findMethod(info type, string_view name) { for (info member : members_of(type, access_context::current()) | filter(isNonstaticMethod)) { if (has_identifier(member) && identifier_of(member) == name) { return member; } } // Note: this is std::meta::exception, not std::exception throw exception(std::format("Failed to retrieve method {} from type {}", name, identifier_of(type)), ^^findMethod); }

template <info T, const char* Name> constexpr auto createInvokerImpl = []() -> auto { static constexpr info M = findMethod(T, Name); contract_assert( parameters_of(M).size() == 0 && return_type_of(M) == ^^void ); return []([:T:]& instance) -> void { instance.[:M:](); }; }();

consteval info createInvoker(info type, string_view name) { return substitute(^^createInvokerImpl, { reflect_constant(type), reflect_constant_string(name) }); }

class Foo { private: // ... public: Foo() = default;

void printHello() const { std::println("Hello, world!"); } };

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { Foo foo;

// Without reflection foo.printHello();

// With reflection auto invokePrint = [:createInvoker(^^Foo, "printHello"):]; invokePrint(foo);

return 0; } </syntaxhighlight>

=== C# === The following is an example in C#:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c#"> namespace Wikipedia.Examples;

using System; using System.Reflection;

class Foo { // ...

public Foo() {}

public void PrintHello() { Console.WriteLine("Hello, world!"); } }

public class InvokeFooExample { static void Main(string[] args) { // Without reflection Foo foo = new(); foo.PrintHello();

// With reflection Object reflectedFoo = Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(Foo)); MethodInfo method = reflectedFoo.GetType() .GetMethod("PrintHello"); method.Invoke(foo, null); } } </syntaxhighlight>

===Delphi, Object Pascal=== This Delphi and Object Pascal example assumes that a {{mono|TFoo}} class has been declared in a unit called {{mono|Unit1}}:

<syntaxhighlight lang="Delphi"> uses RTTI, Unit1;

procedure WithoutReflection; var Foo: TFoo; begin Foo := TFoo.Create; try Foo.Hello; finally Foo.Free; end; end;

procedure WithReflection; var RttiContext: TRttiContext; RttiType: TRttiInstanceType; Foo: TObject; begin RttiType := RttiContext.FindType('Unit1.TFoo') as TRttiInstanceType; Foo := RttiType.GetMethod('Create').Invoke(RttiType.MetaclassType, []).AsObject; try RttiType.GetMethod('Hello').Invoke(Foo, []); finally Foo.Free; end; end; </syntaxhighlight>

===eC=== The following is an example in eC:

<syntaxhighlight lang=eC> // Without reflection Foo foo{}; foo.hello();

// With reflection Class fooClass = eSystem_FindClass(__thisModule, "Foo"); Instance foo = eInstance_New(fooClass); Method m = eClass_FindMethod(fooClass, "hello", fooClass.module); ((void(*)())(void*)m.function)(foo); </syntaxhighlight>

===Go=== The following is an example in Go:

<syntaxhighlight lang="go"> import ( "fmt" "reflect" )

type Foo struct{}

func (f Foo) Hello() { fmt.Println("Hello, world!") }

func main() { // Without reflection var f Foo f.Hello()

// With reflection var fT reflect.Type = reflect.TypeOf(Foo{}) var fV reflect.Value = reflect.New(fT)

var m reflect.Value = fV.MethodByName("Hello")

if m.IsValid() { m.Call(nil) } else { fmt.Println("Method not found") } } </syntaxhighlight>

===Java=== The following is an example in Java: <syntaxhighlight lang="java"> package org.wikipedia.examples;

import java.lang.reflect.Method;

class Foo { // ... public Foo() {}

public void printHello() { System.out.println("Hello, world!"); } }

public class InvokeFooExample { public static void main(String[] args) { // Without reflection Foo foo = new Foo(); foo.printHello();

// With reflection try { Foo reflectedFoo = Foo.class .getDeclaredConstructor() .newInstance();

Method m = reflectedFoo.getClass() .getDeclaredMethod("printHello", new Class<?>[0]); m.invoke(reflectedFoo); } catch (ReflectiveOperationException e) { System.err.printf("An error occurred: %s%n", e.getMessage()); } } } </syntaxhighlight>

Java also provides an internal class (not officially in the Java Class Library) in module <code>jdk.unsupported</code>, <code>sun.reflect.Reflection</code> which is used by <code>sun.misc.Unsafe</code>. It contains one method, {{java|static Class<?> getCallerClass(int depth)}} for obtaining the class making a call at a specified depth.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reflection (Java Platform SE 9)|url=https://cr.openjdk.org/~jjg/java-javafx-jdk-docs/api/sun/reflect/Reflection.html|publisher=OpenJDK|website=cr.openjdk.org|access-date=10 October 2025}}</ref> This is now superseded by using the class <code>java.lang.StackWalker.StackFrame</code> and its method {{java|Class<?> getDeclaringClass()}}.

===JavaScript/TypeScript=== The following is an example in JavaScript:

<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript"> import 'reflect-metadata';

// Without reflection const foo = new Foo(); foo.hello();

// With reflection const foo = Reflect.construct(Foo); const hello = Reflect.get(foo, 'hello'); Reflect.apply(hello, foo, []);

// With eval eval('new Foo().hello()'); </syntaxhighlight>

The following is the same example in TypeScript:

<syntaxhighlight lang="typescript"> import 'reflect-metadata';

// Without reflection const foo: Foo = new Foo(); foo.hello();

// With reflection const foo: Foo = Reflect.construct(Foo); const hello: (this: Foo) => void = Reflect.get(foo, 'hello') as (this: Foo) => void; Reflect.apply(hello, foo, []);

// With eval eval('new Foo().hello()'); </syntaxhighlight>

===Julia=== The following is an example in Julia: <syntaxhighlight lang="julia-repl"> julia> struct Point x::Int y end

# Inspection with reflection julia> fieldnames(Point) (:x, :y)

julia> fieldtypes(Point) (Int64, Any)

julia> p = Point(3,4)

# Access with reflection julia> getfield(p, :x) 3 </syntaxhighlight>

===Kotlin=== Using Java reflection: <syntaxhighlight lang="kotlin"> package org.wikipedia.examples

import java.lang.reflect.Method

class Foo { // ... constructor()

fun printHello() { println("Hello, world!") } }

fun main(args: Array<String>) { // Without reflection val foo = Foo() foo.printHello()

// With reflection try { // Foo::class.java retrieves a java.lang.Class<Foo> val reflectedFoo = Foo::class.java .getDeclaredConstructor() .newInstance()

val m: Method = reflectedFoo.javaClass .getDeclaredMethod("printHello")

m.invoke(reflectedFoo) } catch (e: ReflectiveOperationException) { System.err.printf("An error occurred: %s%n", e.message) } } </syntaxhighlight>

Using pure Kotlin: <syntaxhighlight lang="kotlin"> package org.wikipedia.examples

import kotlin.reflect.full.createInstance import kotlin.reflect.full.functions

class Foo { // ... fun printHello() { println("Hello, world!") } }

fun main(args: Array<String>) { // Without reflection val foo = Foo() foo.printHello()

// With reflection try { val kClass = Foo::class val reflectedFoo = kClass.createInstance() val function = kClass.functions.first { it.name == "printHello" } function.call(reflectedFoo) } catch (e: Exception) { System.err.printf("An error occurred: %s%n", e.message) } } </syntaxhighlight>

===Objective-C=== The following is an example in Objective-C, implying either the OpenStep or Foundation Kit framework is used:

<syntaxhighlight lang="ObjC"> // Foo class. @interface Foo : NSObject - (void)hello; @end

// Sending "hello" to a Foo instance without reflection. Foo* obj = [[Foo alloc] init]; [obj hello];

// Sending "hello" to a Foo instance with reflection. id obj = [[NSClassFromString(@"Foo") alloc] init]; [obj performSelector: @selector(hello)]; </syntaxhighlight>

===Perl=== The following is an example in Perl:

<syntaxhighlight lang="perl"> # Without reflection my $foo = Foo->new; $foo->hello;

# or Foo->new->hello;

# With reflection my $class = "Foo" my $constructor = "new"; my $method = "hello";

my $f = $class->$constructor; $f->$method;

# or $class->$constructor->$method;

# with eval eval "new Foo->hello;"; </syntaxhighlight>

===PHP=== The following is an example in PHP:<ref>{{cite web |title=PHP: ReflectionClass - Manual |url=https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.reflectionclass.php |website=www.php.net}}</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang="php"> // Without reflection $foo = new Foo(); $foo->hello();

// With reflection, using Reflections API $reflector = new ReflectionClass("Foo"); $foo = $reflector->newInstance(); $hello = $reflector->getMethod("hello"); $hello->invoke($foo); </syntaxhighlight>

===Python=== The following is an example in Python:

<syntaxhighlight lang="python"> from typing import Any

class Foo: # ... def print_hello(self) -> None: print("Hello, world!")

if __name__ == "__main__": # Without reflection obj: Foo = Foo() obj.print_hello()

# With reflection obj: Foo = globals()["Foo"]() _: Any = getattr(obj, "print_hello")()

# With eval eval("Foo().print_hello()") </syntaxhighlight>

===R=== The following is an example in R:

<syntaxhighlight lang="r"> # Without reflection, assuming foo() returns an S3-type object that has method "hello" obj <- foo() hello(obj)

# With reflection class_name <- "foo" generic_having_foo_method <- "hello" obj <- do.call(class_name, list()) do.call(generic_having_foo_method, alist(obj)) </syntaxhighlight>

===Ruby=== The following is an example in Ruby:

<syntaxhighlight lang="ruby"> # Without reflection obj = Foo.new obj.hello

# With reflection obj = Object.const_get("Foo").new obj.send :hello

# With eval eval "Foo.new.hello" </syntaxhighlight>

===Rust=== Rust does not have compile-time reflection in the standard library, but it is possible using some third-party libraries such as "{{mono|bevy_reflect}}".<ref>{{Cite web|title=bevy_reflect - Rust|url=https://docs.rs/bevy_reflect/latest/bevy_reflect/|website=docs.rs|date=30 May 2025}}</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang="rust"> use std::any::TypeId;

use bevy_reflect::prelude::*; use bevy_reflect::{ FunctionRegistry, GetTypeRegistration, Reflect, ReflectFunction, ReflectFunctionRegistry, ReflectMut, ReflectRef, TypeRegistry };

#[derive(Reflect)] #[reflect(DoFoo)] struct Foo { // ... }

impl Foo { fn new() -> Self { Foo {} }

fn print_hello(&self) { println!("Hello, world!"); } }

#[reflect_trait] trait DoFoo { fn print_hello(&self); }

impl DoFoo for Foo { fn print_hello(&self) { self.print_hello(); } }

fn main() { // Without reflection let foo: Foo = Foo::new(); foo.print_hello();

// With reflection let mut registry: TypeRegistry = TypeRegistry::default();

registry.register::<Foo>(); registry.register_type_data::<Foo, ReflectFunctionRegistry>(); registry.register_type_data::<Foo, ReflectDoFoo>();

let foo: Foo = Foo; let reflect_foo: Box<dyn Reflect> = Box::new(foo);

// Version 1: call hello by trait let trait_registration: &ReflectDoFoo = registry .get_type_data::<ReflectDoFoo>(TypeId::of::<Foo>()) .expect("ReflectDoFoo not found for Foo");

let trait_object: &dyn DoFoo = trait_registration .get(&*reflect_foo) .expect("Failed to get DoFoo trait object");

trait_object.print_hello();

// Version 2: call hello by function name let func_registry: &FunctionRegistry = registry .get_type_data::<FunctionRegistry>(TypeId::of::<Foo>()) .expect("FunctionRegistry not found for Foo");

if let Some(dyn_func) = func_registry.get("print_hello") { let result: Option<Box<dyn Reflect>> = dyn_func .call(&*reflect_foo, Vec::<Box<dyn Reflect>>::new()) .ok();

if result.is_none() { println!("Function called, no result returned (as expected for void return)"); } } else { println!("No function named hello found in FunctionRegistry"); } } </syntaxhighlight>

===Xojo=== The following is an example using Xojo:

<syntaxhighlight lang="vbnet"> ' Without reflection Dim fooInstance As New Foo fooInstance.PrintHello

' With reflection Dim classInfo As Introspection.Typeinfo = GetTypeInfo(Foo) Dim constructors() As Introspection.ConstructorInfo = classInfo.GetConstructors Dim fooInstance As Foo = constructors(0).Invoke Dim methods() As Introspection.MethodInfo = classInfo.GetMethods For Each m As Introspection.MethodInfo In methods If m.Name = "PrintHello" Then m.Invoke(fooInstance) End If Next </syntaxhighlight>

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist}}

=== Sources === {{refbegin}} * Jonathan M. Sobel and Daniel P. Friedman. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100204091328/http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~jsobel/rop.html ''An Introduction to Reflection-Oriented Programming''] (1996), Indiana University. * [https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/674455/Anti-Reflector-NET-Code-Protection Anti-Reflection technique using C# and C++/CLI wrapper to prevent code thief] {{refend}}

==Further reading== * Ira R. Forman and Nate Forman, ''Java Reflection in Action'' (2005), {{ISBN|1-932394-18-4}} * Ira R. Forman and Scott Danforth, ''Putting Metaclasses to Work'' (1999), {{ISBN|0-201-43305-2}}

==External links== * [https://www-master.ufr-info-p6.jussieu.fr/2007/Ajouts/Master_esj20_2007_2008/IMG/pdf/malenfant-ijcai95.pdf Reflection in logic, functional and object-oriented programming: a short comparative study] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100204091328/http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~jsobel/rop.html An Introduction to Reflection-Oriented Programming] * [http://www.laputan.org/#Reflection Brian Foote's pages on Reflection in Smalltalk] * [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/reflect/index.html Java Reflection API Tutorial] from Oracle {{Programming paradigms navbox}} {{Types of programming languages}}

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