What is reflection?
A programming technique that allows a program to examine and modify its own structure and behavior at runtime
reflection explained in plain English
Analogy
Reflection is like a mirror that a program can use to look at itself. Just as a mirror shows you your own reflection, reflection in programming shows a program its own internal workings, allowing it to make adjustments and improvements.
Example
A web browser using reflection to inspect and modify the properties of a web page, such as changing the layout or style of the page, without having to reload it.
How is reflection used?
Reflection is often used in software development for tasks such as inspecting and modifying the properties of objects, invoking methods dynamically, and serializing data.
Common misconceptions about reflection
Some people think that reflection is only used for debugging, but it has many other uses, such as improving performance and adding new features to a program.
History
The concept of reflection originated in the 1960s in the field of artificial intelligence, and has since been adopted in many programming languages, including Java, Python, and C#.
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