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          <div class="post-header">
   <h1 class="post-title-main">Using Spoon as a Better Runtime Reflection API</h1>
</div>

<div class="post-content">

   

  <p>Spoon can be used as an alternative to the standard Java reflection API.
Instead of manipulating a <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">java.lang.Class</code> object, you manipulate <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">CtClass</code> objects (also “shadow classes” of the normal binary classes).
The advantage is that you can share code for analyzing both binary and source code.</p>

<p>To do this, use <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">TypeFactory</code> as follows:</p>

<div class="language-java highlighter-rouge"><div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight"><code><span class="nc">CtType</span> <span class="n">s</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="k">new</span> <span class="nc">TypeFactory</span><span class="o">().</span><span class="na">get</span><span class="o">(</span><span class="nc">String</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="na">class</span><span class="o">);</span>
<span class="nc">System</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="na">out</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="na">println</span><span class="o">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="na">getSimpleName</span><span class="o">());</span>
</code></pre></div></div>

<p>Spoon also provides you with reflection over the Spoon metamodel itself, in class <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">spoon.Metamodel</code>:</p>

<div class="language-java highlighter-rouge"><div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight"><code><span class="nc">Set</span><span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nc">CtType</span><span class="o">&gt;</span> <span class="n">list</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nc">Metamodel</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="na">getAllMetamodelInterfaces</span><span class="o">();</span>
<span class="k">for</span><span class="o">(</span><span class="nc">CtType</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="o">:</span> <span class="n">l</span><span class="o">)</span> <span class="o">{</span>
    <span class="nc">System</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="na">out</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="na">println</span><span class="o">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="na">getMethods</span><span class="o">());</span>
<span class="o">}</span>
</code></pre></div></div>

<p>If you need to analyze the method bodies of binary code, have a look at <a href="https://github.com/INRIA/spoon/tree/master/spoon-decompiler">spoon-decompiler</a>.</p>






















































































































































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