Java Reflection in Action

Java Reflection in Action, 9781932394184 (1932394184), Manning Publications, 2004

Computing Review
"Well-written . . . presents a difficult topic in a clear and comprehensible fashion."

JavaRanch.com
"Exceptional coverage of an area . . . that is generally poorly covered and often misunderstood."

Explaining the Java Reflection API and providing techniques for using it effectively, this guide describes the capabilities that allow a program to examine and modify itself at runtime. The java.lang.reflect package and its uses are covered, including a detailed discussion of Java's dynamic proxy facility. Less obvious reflective capabilities, such as call stack introspection and the Java class loader, are addressed. In recognition of the limitations of Java Reflection, the various ways to use Reflection to generate code and surpass these limitations are detailed. A discussion of performance analysis techniques and a look ahead at what is new in JDK 1.5 is included.

This book is a practical guide for intermediate programmers. The book has one goal: to make your programming job easier. We accomplish this in two ways:

Teach Java reflection—The book concentrates on small teachable examples, mainly in the area of software development and test tools, a problem area common to all programmers. We describe the reflective facilities and also prescribe effective ways to use them.
Convey an understanding of reflection in general—Reflection is much broader than what is incorporated in Java. We discuss the limitations of Java reflection and show techniques for working around them. This discussion furthers your understanding of Java reflection by using it in the techniques. It also motivates ideas about next-generation features, preparing you to use them.

This book is prescriptive. That is, it advocates techniques for using Java reflection that we have used and profited from in our jobs.

About the Author
Ira R. Forman is the author of Interacting Processes and Putting Metaclasses to Work. He was a member of IBM's Object Technology Products Group, which produced the SOMobjects Toolkit, and he designed and programmed the SOM Metaclass Framework. Nate Forman works for Ticom Geomatics where he designs and programs application frameworks. His specialties are patterns and object-oriented programming. They both live in Austin, Texas.

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