Package net.oneandone.mork.reflect

Additional functionality over java.lang.reflect.

See: Description

Class Summary

Class	Description
Arrays	Additional functionality over java.util.Arrays.
Composition	Composition of two functions.
Constant	Wraps an Object to make is useable as a constant Function, i.e.
Constructor	Wraps a Java Constructor to make it useable as a Function.
Field	A Function that reads a Java Field.
Function	Interface for anything that can be invoked.
Identity	Identity function.
Method	Wraps a Java Method to make it useable as a Function.
Option	I can't implement Option by feeding an Option-Value because I want to offer explicit definitions like If(Expression), If(Expression,Expression)
Selection	A collection of functions.

Package net.oneandone.mork.reflect Description

Additional functionality over java.lang.reflect. Provides wrapper classes that unify methods, constructors and fields in functions. Some classes in this package use the same name as the wrapped java.lang.reflect class. The documentation adds the term Java when refering java.lang.reflect classes

Implementation notes:

Wrapper classes (Method, Constructor, Field) can't derive the corresponding reflection classes because those are final or have private constructors.

There is an alternative implementation for Function: its constructur receives the function signature (name, result, arguments) and maintains them autonomously. This would prevent derived functions to change the signature dynamically and it would be slightly faster. However, constructing derived classes becomes weired, speed is typically not an issue (because type-checking is performed at compile-time), and it requires more space. The current solution is somehow cleaner.

I'd like to avoid argument copying by adding an ofs argument to invoke. But finally, Java methods or constructors will be called - and they need a shrink-wrapped array.

TODO:
o rename functions into Callable?
  o functions can have side-effects
o Function.getParameterTypes is expensive
o mutable Selections?
o resemble java.lang.reflect naming

o merge with mapping.Type/mapping.Library?
o move classfile.*Ref classes into this package?
o functions and interfaces?