On Reflection in OO Programming Languages
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Transcript of On Reflection in OO Programming Languages
Yann-Gaël Guéhéneuc
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 3.0 Unported LicenseDépartement de génie informatique et de génie logiciel
On Reflection in OO Programming Languages
[email protected] 1.5.22014/04/14
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Any questions/comments are welcome [email protected] code available at http://www.ptidej.net/tutorial/javareflection
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Outline
Rationale Definition Context
– Interconnections Scenarios Theory Conclusion Class Loading
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Outline
Rationale Definition Context
– Interconnections Scenarios Theory Conclusion Class Loading
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Use of instanceofpublic abstract class Animal {}public class Cat extends Animal {}public class Dog extends Animal {}public class Expression {
public static String speak(final Animal anAnimal) {final String sound;if (anAnimal instanceof Dog) {
sound = "woof";}else if (anAnimal instanceof Cat) {
sound = "miaow";}else {
sound = "";}return sound;
}public static void main(final String[] args) {
final Dog fido = new Dog();System.out.println(Expression.speak(fido));
}}
Must test the type ofthe object at run-time
Breaks informationhiding of Cat and Dog
Requires special case
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Use of instanceof
Reason– Must bypass the compiler and virtual machine’s
choice of the method to call
– Remember that overloading is resolved by the static type of the argument, not its run-time type (cf. Week 2)
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Use of instanceof
Problem
“Don't repeat yourself” (DRY): “Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.”
—Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas(in The Pragmatic Programmer)
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Use of instanceofpublic abstract class Animal {
public abstract String speak();}public class Cat extends Animal {
@Overridepublic String speak() {
return "miaow";}
}public class Dog extends Animal {
@Overridepublic String speak() {
return "woof";}
}public class Expression {
public static void main(final String[] args) {final Dog fido = new Dog();System.out.println(fido.speak());
}}
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Use of instanceofpublic class Cat {
public String speak() {return "miaow";
}}public class Dog {
public String speak() {return "woof";
}}public class Expression {
public static void main(final String[] args) throwsIllegalAccessException,IllegalArgumentException,InvocationTargetException {
final Dog fido = new Dog();final Method[] method = Dog.class.getDeclaredMethods();System.out.println(method[0].invoke(fido, new Object[0]));
}}
Discover method ofobject of unrelatedclasses
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Plugins
Plugins are external, user-defined pieces of code loaded, used, and unloaded to benefit from their features only when needed
Problem– Closed-world assumption (at compile-time and
runtime) leads to the need for a mechanism to perform dynamic loading
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Serialisation
Serialisation is the process of translating data structures or object state into a format that can be stored (file, network…)
Problem– Information hiding prevents access to the
internals of the data structures and to the complete object states
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Debugging/Profiling
Debugging/profiling are the processes of monitoring the execution of a program – To understand its behaviour– To measure its space and time complexity
Problem– Accessing the internals of objects and
controlling the program to collect relevant data
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Patching
Patching is the process of changing the behaviour of a class or an object– To modify its behaviour– To add new behaviour
Problem– Modifying the behaviour at run-time without the
need to recompile and restart the program
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Outline
Rationale Definition Context
– Interconnections Scenarios Theory Conclusion Class Loading
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Definition
Reflection is the ability of a computer program to examine and modify the structure and behaviour of an object at runtime
Problem: inspect objects and change their behaviour at runtimeSolution: reflection
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Use of instanceofpublic abstract class Animal {
public abstract String speak();}public class Cat extends Animal {
@Overridepublic String speak() {
return "miaow";}
}public class Dog extends Animal {
@Overridepublic String speak() {
return "woof";}
}public class Expression {
public static void main(final String[] args) {final Dog fido = new Dog();System.out.println(fido.speak());
}}
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Use of instanceofpublic abstract class Animal {
public abstract String speak();}public class Cat extends Animal {
@Overridepublic String miaow() {
return "miaow";}
}public class Dog extends Animal {
@Overridepublic String bark() {
return "woof";}
}public class Expression {
public static void main(final String[] args) {final Dog fido = new Dog();final Method[] method = Dog.class.getDeclaredMethods();System.out.println(method[0].invoke(fido, new Object[0]));
}}
Unrelated classes
Choice at run-time
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Outline
Problems Definition Context
– Interconnections Scenarios Theory Conclusion Class Loading
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Context
Reflection– Ability of a computer program to examine and
modify the structure and behaviour of an object at runtime
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Context
Reflection– Theoretical interest
• What is an interpreter?Brian Cantwell Smith “Procedural Reflection in Programming Languages” (Ph.D. thesis, 1982)
– Practical interest• Libraries• Frameworks
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Context
Reflection– Theoretical interest
• What is an interpreter?Brian Cantwell Smith “Procedural Reflection in Programming Languages” (Ph.D. thesis, 1982)
– Practical interest• Libraries• Frameworks
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Context
Reflection– Theoretical interest
• What is an interpreter?Brian Cantwell Smith “Procedural Reflection in Programming Languages” (Ph.D. thesis, 1982)
– Practical interest• Libraries• Frameworks
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Context
Libraries– Collections of data structures and algorithms
(possibly encapsulated in classes) used to develop and run programs
Frameworks– Reusable sets of libraries, tools, and
conventions used to develop and run programs
Problem: connection between clients and libraries/frameworksSolution: linking, forking, subclassing, IPC, and dynamic loading
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Interconnections
Clients–Libraries/Frameworks– Linking– Forking– Subclassing– Inter-process communication– Dynamic loading/invoking
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Interconnections
Linking(Contrast with virtual machines)
– Typically C/C++
– Several object files (.o)– One executable (.exe)
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Interconnections
Forking– Typical in most
languages– Process duplication
• Is a real duplication• Creates a new OS
process
final StringBuffer commandLine = new StringBuffer();
commandLine.append("..\\DOT\\bin\\dotty ");
commandLine.append(aFilePath);
final Process process =
Runtime.getRuntime().exec(commandLine.toString());
final OutputMonitor errorStreamMonitor =
new OutputMonitor(...,process.getErrorStream(),...);
errorStreamMonitor.start();
final OutputMonitor inputStreamMonitor =
new OutputMonitor(...,process.getInputStream(),...);
inputStreamMonitor.start();
try {
process.waitFor();
}
catch (final InterruptedException ie) {
ie.printStackTrace(
Output.getInstance().errorOutput());
}
if (process.exitValue() != 0) {
...
}
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Interconnections
IPC– Typical in most languages– Use remote procedure calls– Use well-defined protocols
• COM• CORBA• XML-RPC
– Web services
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Interconnectionspackage kr.ac.yonsei.cse3009.rpc;
import java.net.URL;import org.apache.xmlrpc.client.XmlRpcClient;import org.apache.xmlrpc.client.XmlRpcClientConfigImpl;
public class Client {public static void main(final String[] args)
throws Exception {
final XmlRpcClientConfigImpl config = new XmlRpcClientConfigImpl();
config.setServerURL(new URL("http://127.0.0.1:8080/xmlrpc"));
final XmlRpcClient client = new XmlRpcClient();client.setConfig(config);
final Object[] params = new Object[] {new Integer(33), new Integer(9) };
final Integer result = (Integer) client.execute("Calculator.add", params);
System.out.println(result);}
}
package kr.ac.yonsei.cse3009.rpc;
import org.apache.xmlrpc.server.PropertyHandlerMapping;import org.apache.xmlrpc.server.XmlRpcServer;import org.apache.xmlrpc.webserver.WebServer;
public class Server {public static void main(final String[] args)
throws Exception {
final WebServer webServer = new WebServer(8080);final XmlRpcServer xmlRpcServer =
webServer.getXmlRpcServer();final PropertyHandlerMapping phm =
new PropertyHandlerMapping();phm.addHandler("Calculator", Calculator.class);xmlRpcServer.setHandlerMapping(phm);
webServer.start();}
}
package kr.ac.yonsei.cse3009.rpc;
public class Calculator {public int add(final int i1, final int i2) {
return i1 + i2;}public int sub(final int i1, final int i2) {
return i1 - i2;}
}
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Interconnections
Subclassing– Typical in most object-
oriented languages– Structural, static relation
public class OutputMonitor extends Thread {
...
public OutputMonitor(...) {
this.setName(threadName);
this.setPriority(Thread.MAX_PRIORITY);
...
}
public void run() {
try {
int value = 0;
byte[] bytes;
char lastWrittenChar;
while ((value = this.inputStream.read()) > 0) {
synchronized (System.err) {
synchronized (System.out) {
if (value != 13 && value != 10) {
lastWrittenChar = (char) value;
...
}}
}
}
catch (final IOException ioe) {
...
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Interconnections
Subclassing– Hooks and templates
• Hot spots = hooks• Frozen spots = templates
– Hooks are typically abstract methods– Templates typically use hooks
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Interconnections
Subclassing– Hooks and templates
• JUnit
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Interconnections
Template
Hooks
public abstract class TestCase
extends Assert implements Test {
public void runBare() throws Throwable {
setUp();
try {
runTest();
}
finally {
tearDown();
}
}
protected void setUp() throws Exception {
}
protected void tearDown() throws Exception {
}
...
}
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Interconnections
Subclassing– Heavily used in object-oriented programs– Heavily used in design patterns
(Only Singleton does not explicitly use subclassing)• Abstract Factory• Composite• Decorator• Observer• Visitor
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Interconnections
Dynamic loading– In different programming languages (but not all),
it is the possibility to load, use, and unload a piece of code at runtime
– In Java, it is the possibility to load and unload a class and to choose and invoke its methods(and to access its fields…) at runtime
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Interconnections
Poor man’s profiler– Calls the main() method of a class whose name is
given at runtime, by the user– Displays the time spent in the called method
public final class PoorManProfiler {
public static void main(final String[] args) {
try {
final Class toBeRun = Class.forName(args[0]);
final Method mainMethod =
toBeRun.getMethod("main", new Class[] { String[].class });
final long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
mainMethod.invoke(null, new Object[] { new String[0] });
final long endTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
System.out.println();
System.out.println(endTime - startTime);
}
catch (final Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
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Return to Reflection
Reflection enables dynamic loading– Reflection dynamic loading– Dynamic loading Reflection
• Think of dynamically-loaded shared libraries in C-based operating systems, such as AmigaOS, Linux, UN*X, Windows…
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Outline
Rationale Definition Context
– Interconnections Scenarios Theory Conclusion Class Loading
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Scenarios
Original problem
– Different interpretations– Different contexts
Four scenarios Three programming languages
Problem: inspect objects and change their behaviour at runtimeSolution: reflection
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Scenarios
Scenario 1: invoke an arbitrary method on an object (see the problems with instanceof and plugins)
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
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Scenarios
Scenario 2: access the complete (including private) state of an object (see the problem with serialisation)
– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
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Scenarios
Scenario 3: count the number of instances of a class created at runtime (see the problem with debugging/profiling)
– Given a class C– Record the number of its instances ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 4: patch the method of a class to change its behaviour (see the problem with patching)
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Java
Smalltalk
C++
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
public class C {private int i;public C(final int anInt) {
this.i = anInt;}public void foo(final String s) {
System.out.print(s);System.out.println(this.i);
}}
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
Identify all the methods available on ofoogetClasshashCodeequalstoStringnotifynotifyAllwaitwaitwait
Invoke a method using its name fooThis is foo: 42
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
final C o = new C(42);
System.out.println("Identify all the methods available on o");final Class<?> classOfO = o.getClass();final Method[] methodsOfC = classOfO.getMethods();for (int i = 0; i < methodsOfC.length; i++) {
final Method method = methodsOfC[i];System.out.print('\t');System.out.println(method.getName());
}
System.out.println("Invoke a method using its name foo");final Method fooMethod = classOfO.getMethod("foo", new Class[] { String.class });fooMethod.invoke(o, new Object[] { "\tThis is foo: " });
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
Identify all the methods available on ofoogetClasshashCodeequalstoStringnotifynotifyAllwaitwaitwait
Invoke a method using its name fooThis is foo: 42
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
public class C {private int i;public C() {
this(-1);}public C(final int anInt) {
this.i = anInt;}public void foo(final String s) {
System.out.print(s);System.out.println(this.i);
}}
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
Save on disk the complete state of oi = 42
Restore from disk the object o at a later timeThis is foo on o2: 43
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
final C o1 = new C(42);
System.out.println("Save on disk the complete state of o");final Class<?> classOfO = o1.getClass();final Field[] fieldsOfC = classOfO.getDeclaredFields();for (int i = 0; i < fieldsOfC.length; i++) {
final Field field = fieldsOfC[i];field.setAccessible(true);System.out.print('\t' + field.getName());System.out.println(" = " + field.getInt(o1));
}
System.out.println("Restore from disk the object o at a later time");final C o2 = (C) classOfO.newInstance();final Field fieldiOfC = classOfO.getDeclaredField("i");fieldiOfC.setAccessible(true);fieldiOfC.setInt(o2, 43);o2.foo("\tThis is foo on o2: ");
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
Save on disk the complete state of oi = 42
Restore from disk the object o at a later timeThis is foo on o2: 43
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
public class C {private static int numberOfInstances;public static int getNumberOfInstances() {
return C.numberOfInstances;}
private int i;public C() {
this(-1);}public C(final int anInt) {
C.numberOfInstances++;this.i = anInt;
}public void foo(final String s) {
System.out.print(s);System.out.println(this.i);
}}
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
kr.ac.yonsei.it.cse3009.reflection.scenario3.C@150bd4dkr.ac.yonsei.it.cse3009.reflection.scenario3.C@1bc4459kr.ac.yonsei.it.cse3009.reflection.scenario3.C@12b66513
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
public class Main {public static void main(final String[] args) {
final C o1 = new C(42);final C o2 = new C(1);final C o3 = new C(100);System.out.println(o1 + "\n" + o2 + '\n' + o3);
System.out.println(C.getNumberOfInstances());}
}
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
kr.ac.yonsei.it.cse3009.reflection.scenario3.C@150bd4dkr.ac.yonsei.it.cse3009.reflection.scenario3.C@1bc4459kr.ac.yonsei.it.cse3009.reflection.scenario3.C@12b66513
To fulfill this scenario, we must modify C
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Class Class is a metaclass– It describes other classes
Class Method is a class– It describes methods
Class Field is a class– It describes fields
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Scenarios
Class Class is a metaclass– It allows to reify classes
Class Method is a class– It allows to reify methods, these language
constructs become first-class entities Class Field is a class
– It allows to reify fields , these language constructs become first-class entities
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Scenarios
Class Class is a metaclass– It allows to reify classes
Class Method is a class– It allows to reify methods, these language
constructs become first-class entities Class Field is a class
– It allows to reify fields, these language constructs become first-class entities
Reification is the process of making available an implicit construct of a language
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Scenarios
We never modified class Class– We only used it to obtain the methods and fields
declared by particular classes, e.g., C
We used static fields and methods to count number of instances
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
public interface I {public void foo(final String s);
}
public class C implements I {private int i;public C(final int anInt) {
this.i = anInt;}public void foo(final String s) {
System.out.print(s);System.out.println(this.i);
}}
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
This is o: 42Forwarding method: "foo"
Original arguments: "This is o: "New arguments: "THIS IS O: "
THIS IS O: 42
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
final I o = new C(42);o.foo("This is o: ");
final InvocationHandler handler = new InvokationHandler(o);final I proxy =
(I) Proxy.newProxyInstance(I.class.getClassLoader(),new Class[] { I.class },handler);
Assert.assertTrue(proxy instanceof I);Assert.assertFalse(proxy instanceof C);Assert.assertTrue(proxy.equals(o));
proxy.foo("This is o: ");
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scen
ario
s
Sce
nario
4:
public class InvokationHandler implements InvocationHandler {private final I i;public InvokationHandler(final I aConcreteImplementationOfI) {
this.i = aConcreteImplementationOfI;}public Object invoke(
final Object aProxy,final Method aMethod,final Object[] someArgs) throws Throwable {
if (aMethod.getName().equals("foo")) {final String arg = (String) someArgs[0];final String newArg = arg.toUpperCase();
System.out.print("Forwarding method: \"");System.out.print(aMethod.getName());System.out.print("\"\n\tOriginal arguments: \"");System.out.print(arg);System.out.print("\"\n\tNew arguments: \"");System.out.print(newArg);System.out.println('\"');
this.i.foo(newArg);return null;
}else {
return aMethod.invoke(this.i, someArgs);}
}}
–G
iven
an
obje
ct o
, ins
tanc
e of
C–
With
out c
hang
ing o
or C
–C
hang
e th
e be
havi
ouro
f o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
final I o = new C(42);o.foo("This is o: ");
final InvocationHandler handler = new InvokationHandler(o);final I proxy =
(I) Proxy.newProxyInstance(I.class.getClassLoader(),new Class[] { I.class },handler);
Assert.assertTrue(proxy instanceof I);Assert.assertFalse(proxy instanceof C);Assert.assertTrue(proxy.equals(o));
proxy.foo("This is o: ");
Properties of the proxy ensured by the Java VM
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Smalltalk– Everything is an object– Everything is an object, really
static
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Scenarios
Smalltalk– SmalltalkImage is the class that “represent[s]
the current image and runtime environment, including system organization, the virtual machine, object memory, plugins, and source files. [Its] instance variable #globals is a reference to the system dictionary of global variables and class names. [Its] singleton instance is called Smalltalk.”
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Scenarios
Smalltalk– Object is “the root class for almost all of the
other classes in the class hierarchy. […] Class Object provides default behavior common to all normal objects, such as access, copying, comparison, error handling, message sending, and reflection. Also utility messages that all objects should respond to are defined here.”
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Scenarios
Smalltalk– Class “[adds] instance-specific behavior to
various class-describing objects in the system. This typically includes messages for initializing class variables and instance creation messages particular to a class. There is only one instance of a particular Metaclass, namely the class which is being described.”
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
Object subclass: #CinstanceVariableNames: 'i'classVariableNames: ''poolDictionaries: ''category: 'CSE3009'.
C class compile: 'newWithi: anInt^(self new) i: anInt ; yourself.'.
C compile: 'foo: aTextTranscript show: aText.Transcript show: i.Transcript cr.'.
C compile: 'i: anInti := anInt.'.
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
Identify all the methods available on oan IdentitySet(#handles: #longPrintString #actionMap#hasContentsInExplorer [...] #foo: [...] #i: [...]#creationStamp)
Invoke a method using its name fooThis is foo: 42
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
|o|o := C newWithi: 42.
Transcript show: 'Identify all the methods available on o' ; cr.Transcript show: C allSelectors ; cr.
Transcript show: 'Invoke a method using its name foo' ; cr.(C compiledMethodAt: #foo:) valueWithReceiver: o arguments: #('This is foo: ').
Simple and straightforward
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
Object subclass: #CinstanceVariableNames: 'i'classVariableNames: ''poolDictionaries: ''category: 'CSE3009'.
C class compile: 'newWithi: anInt^(self new) i: anInt ; yourself.'.
C compile: 'foo: aTextTranscript show: aText.Transcript show: i.Transcript cr.'.
C compile: 'i: anInti := anInt.'.
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
Save on disk the complete state of o42
Restore from disk the object o at a later timeThis is foo on o2: 43
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
|o1 o2|o1 := C newWithi: 42.
Transcript show: 'Save on disk the complete state of o' ; cr.Transcript show: (o1 instVarAt: 1) ; cr.
Transcript show: 'Restore from disk the object o at a later time' ; cr.o2 := C new.o2 instVarNamed: 'i' put: 43.o2 foo: 'This is foo on o2: '.
Again, simple and straightforward
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:
– Pharo (a recent implementation of Smalltalk) provides is a general object serialiser that can serialise any object
– Uses reflection to implement these methods!
– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
1@2 serializeToFileNamed: 'hello.fuel'.FLMaterializer materializeFromFileNamed: 'hello.fuel'
Thanks to Marcus Denker for pointing out these helper methods
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
Object subclass: #CinstanceVariableNames: 'i'classVariableNames: 'NumberOfInstances'poolDictionaries: ''category: 'CSE3009'.
C class compile: 'newWithi: anInt^(self new) i: anInt ; yourself.'.
C compile: 'foo: aTextTranscript show: aText.Transcript show: i.Transcript cr.'.
C compile: 'i: anInti := anInt.'.
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
Only difference with Scenarios 1 and 2
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
C class compile: 'newWithi: anInt^(self new) i: anInt ; yourself.'.
C compile: 'foo: aTextTranscript show: aText.Transcript show: i.Transcript cr.'.
C compile: 'i: anInti := anInt.'.
Same as Scenarios 1 and 2
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
C class compile: 'initializeNumberOfInstances := 0.'.
C class compile: 'newNumberOfInstances := NumberOfInstances + 1.^ self basicNew initialize.'.
C class compile: 'numberOfInstances^ NumberOfInstances.'.
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
“Write access” to the metaclass
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
|o1 o2 o3|C initialize.o1 := C newWithi: 42.o2 := C newWithi: 1.o3 := C newWithi: 100.
Transcript show: o1 ; show: ' ' ; show: o2 ; show: ' ' ; show: o3 ; cr.Transcript show: C numberOfInstances.
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
a C a C a C3
To fulfill this scenario, we modifiedC class not C
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
In Smalltalk, each class has one anonymous meta-class, which can be modified
• Adding new variables and methods which are thus class variables and class methods
• These methods apply on the class, these fields belong to the class (thus unique)
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
– What about a subclass D of C?– How would its instances be counted?
a C a C a C3
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
Thanks to Christophe Dony for suggesting this use of class vs. class instance variables
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:– In C++ and Java: static = global
• The class variables is shared by all the instances of its declaring class… and its subclasses!
final D o4 = new D();// Eclipse advises to use C to call getNumberOfInstances().System.out.println(o4);System.out.println(D.getNumberOfInstances());
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:– In Smalltalk: class vs. class instance
• Class variable vs. class instance variable– A class variable is shared by all the instance of the
class and all the instances of its subclasses– A class instance variable is unique to each class,
inherited from the super-class, like instance variables
C class instanceVariableNames:'IndividualClassNumberOfInstances'
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:– In Smalltalk: class vs. class instance
C subclass: #DinstanceVariableNames: ''classVariableNames: ''poolDictionaries: ''category: 'Ptidej'.
D class compile: 'initializeIndividualClassNumberOfInstances := 0.'.
D class compile: 'newNumberOfInstances := NumberOfInstances + 1.IndividualClassNumberOfInstances := IndividualClassNumberOfInstances + 1.^ self basicNew initialize.'.
D class compile: 'numberOfInstances^ NumberOfInstances.'.
D class compile: 'individualClassNumberOfInstances^ IndividualClassNumberOfInstances.'.
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:– In Smalltalk: class vs. class instance
| o4 |D initialize.o4 := D new.Transcript show: o4 ; cr.Transcript show: C numberOfInstances ; cr.Transcript show: D numberOfInstances ; cr.Transcript show: D individualClassNumberOfInstances ; cr.
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
a D441
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:– In Java: the JVM contains the world
• Possible to connect to a JVM using the Java Debug Interface of the Java Platform Debug Architecture
• Possible to reify the classes existing in the remote JVM and to obtain their instancescom.sun.jdi.ReferenceType.instances(long)
• Special feature of the JVM, “outside” of the normal constructs of the language
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1947122/is-there-a-simple-way-of-obtaining-all-object-instances-of-a-specific-class-in-j/1947200#1947200
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:– In Smalltalk: the image contains the world
• Possible to ask it all the instances of a particular class or all the instances currently in memory
Transcript show: (C allInstances size).
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
Thanks to Marcus Denker for pointing out this solution
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
Object subclass: #CinstanceVariableNames: 'i'classVariableNames: ''poolDictionaries: ''category: 'CSE3009'.
C class compile: 'newWithi: anInt^(self new) i: anInt ; yourself.'.
C compile: 'foo: aTextTranscript show: aText.Transcript show: i.Transcript cr.'.
C compile: 'i: anInti := anInt.'.
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
This is o: 42Intercepting message send: foo:
Original arguments: This is o: New arguments: THIS IS O:
THIS IS O: 42
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
Several choices• ObjectWrappers: http://magaloma.seasidehosting.st/
Kernel#ObjectTracer• MethodWrappers: http://pharo.gforge.inria.fr/
PBE1/PBE1ch15.html• Reflectivity: http://scg.unibe.ch/Research/Reflectivity• …
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
Several choices• ObjectWrappers: http://magaloma.seasidehosting.st/
Kernel#ObjectTracer• MethodWrappers: http://pharo.gforge.inria.fr/
PBE1/PBE1ch15.html• Reflectivity: http://scg.unibe.ch/Research/Reflectivity• …
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
| o aWrapper |o := C newWithi: 42.o foo: 'This is o: '.
aWrapper := WrapperForC on: o."o become: aWrapper."aWrapper foo: 'This is o: '.aWrapper xxxUnTrace.
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Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
ObjectTracer subclass: #WrapperForCinstanceVariableNames: ''classVariableNames: ''poolDictionaries: ''category: 'CSE3009'.
WrapperForC compile: 'doesNotUnderstand: aMessage"Intercept the selector foo:"
| sel arg newArg |sel := aMessage selector.sel = ''foo:'' ifTrue: [
arg := (aMessage arguments) at: 1.newArg := arg asUppercase.
Transcript show: ''Intercepting message send: '' ; show: sel ; cr.Transcript tab ; show: ''Original arguments: '' ; show: arg ; cr.Transcript tab ; show: ''New arguments: '' ; show: newArg ; cr.
aMessage argument: newArg.aMessage sendTo: (self xxxViewedObject)
]ifFalse: [
"Transcript show: aMessage."]'.
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
This is o: 42Intercepting message send: foo:
Original arguments: This is o: New arguments: THIS IS O:
THIS IS O: 42
| o aWrapper |o := C newWithi: 42.o foo: 'This is o: '.
aWrapper := WrapperForC on: o."o become: aWrapper."aWrapper foo: 'This is o: '.aWrapper xxxUnTrace.
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
– We created the class WrappedForC that does not understand many messages (as subclass of ProtoObject)
– We wrapped an instance of WrappedForCaround o and use doesNotUnderstand: to proxy messages
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
– We created the class WrappedForC that does not understand many messages (as subclass of ProtoObject)
– We wrapped an instance of WrappedForCaround o and use doesNotUnderstand: to proxy messages
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
Several choices• ObjectWrappers: http://magaloma.seasidehosting.st/
Kernel#ObjectTracer• MethodWrappers: http://pharo.gforge.inria.fr/
PBE1/PBE1ch15.html• Reflectivity: http://scg.unibe.ch/Research/Reflectivity• …
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Reflectivity– Marcus Denker, RMOD Team,
INRIA Lille, and others
– Extensions to the standard reflection features of Smalltalk (both structural and behavioural)
• Structural reflection is extended by sub-method reflection: method bodies are first-class
• Behavioural reflection is provided by Geppetto, an implementation of Partial Behavioural Reflection
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
Object subclass: #CinstanceVariableNames: 'i'classVariableNames: ''poolDictionaries: ''category: 'CSE3009'.
C class compile: 'newWithi: anInt^(self new) i: anInt ; yourself.'.
C compile: 'foo: aTextTranscript show: aText.Transcript show: i.Transcript cr.'.
C compile: 'i: anInti := anInt.'.
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Sub-method reflection
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
nodes := (C>>#foo:) sends select: [:each | ((each selector ~= #show:)
or: (each arguments) size ~= 1)ifTrue: [ false ]ifFalse: [ (each arguments at: 1) name = 'aText'. ].
].
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Meta-object
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
gpLink := GPLink metaObject: [:arg1 :node || newArg |newArg := arg1 asUppercase.Transcript show: 'Intercepting message send: '.Transcript show: node ; cr.Transcript tab ; show: 'Original arguments: '.Transcript show: arg1 ; cr.Transcript tab ; show: 'New arguments: '.Transcript show: newArg ; cr.Transcript show: newArg.
].gpLink control: #instead.
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Linking
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
o := C newWithi: 42.o foo: 'This is o: '.
nodes do: [:node |node link: gpLink].
o foo: 'This is o: '.gpLink uninstall.
This is o: 42Intercepting message send: foo:
Original arguments: This is o: New arguments: THIS IS O:
THIS IS O: 42
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Scenarios
Scenarios 1, 2, 3, and 4
More difficult to implement “as is”• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/359237/why-does-
c-not-have-reflection• http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/
2005/n1751.html
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Scenarios
Scenarios 1, 2, 3, and 4
Third-party solutions• Boost.Mirror: http://kifri.fri.uniza.sk/~chochlik/mirror-
lib/html/index.html#introduction• VisualStudio.NET: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/y0114hz2%28v=vs.110%29.aspx• …
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Scenarios
Scenarios 1, 2, 3, and 4
Third-party solutions• Boost.Mirror: http://kifri.fri.uniza.sk/~chochlik/mirror-
lib/html/index.html#introduction• VisualStudio.NET: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/y0114hz2%28v=vs.110%29.aspx • …
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Scenarios
Boost.Mirror– Matúš Chochlík, University of Žilina,
Žilina, Slovakia
“[C]ompile-time and run-time meta-data describing C++ constructs like namespaces, types typedef-ined types, enums, classes with their base classes, member variables, constructors, member functions, etc.”
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
namespace cse3009 {class C {private:
int i;public:
C(const int _i) : i(_i) {}int get_i(void) const {
return this->i;}void set_i(const int _i) {
this->i = _i;}void foo(const std::string _s) const {
std::cout << _s << this->i << std::endl;}
};}
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
Identify all the methods available on o(The type of o is cse3009::C)cse3009::C::icse3009::C::foo
Invoke a method using its name fooThis is foo: 42
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
int main(void) {cse3009::C * o = new cse3009::C(42);
std::cout << "Identify all the methods available on o" << std::endl;identify_members(o);
std::cout << "Invoke a method using its name foo" << std::endl;invoke_member_function(o);
return 0;}
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
template<typename O>void identify_members(O * _o) {
using namespace mirror;
typedef MIRRORED_CLASS(O) meta_Class;
std::cout << "\t(The type of o is " << meta_Class::full_name()<< ")" << std::endl;
std::cout << "\t";
mp::for_each_ii< all_member_variables<meta_Class> >(info_printer());std::cout << std::endl << "\t";
mp::for_each_ii< member_functions<meta_Class> >(info_printer());std::cout << std::endl;
}
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
template<typename O>void invoke_member_function(O * _o) {
using namespace mirror;
typedef MIRRORED_CLASS(cse3009::C) meta_Class;
typedef mp::at_c<overloads<mp::at_c<member_functions<meta_Class>, 0>::type>, 0>::type
meta_foo;
my_invoker_maker::invoker<meta_foo>::type invoker(std::string("\tThis is foo: "));
invoker.call_on(*_o);}
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Scenarios
Boost.Mirror
– Provides essentially the same concepts and features as java.lang.reflect of Java
– Uses templates and (manual) registration to collect metadata that does not exist unless manually created through macro preprocessing
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
MIRROR_REG_BEGINMIRROR_QREG_GLOBAL_SCOPE_NAMESPACE(std)
MIRROR_REG_CLASS_BEGIN(struct, std, string)MIRROR_REG_CLASS_END
MIRROR_QREG_GLOBAL_SCOPE_NAMESPACE(cse3009)MIRROR_REG_CLASS_BEGIN(class, cse3009, C)
MIRROR_REG_CLASS_MEM_VARS_BEGINMIRROR_REG_CLASS_MEM_VAR_GET_SET(
private, _, int, i, _.get_i(), _.set_i(_i))MIRROR_REG_CLASS_MEM_VARS_ENDMIRROR_REG_MEM_FUNCTIONS_BEGIN
MIRROR_REG_MEM_OVLD_FUNC_BEGIN(foo)MIRROR_REG_MEM_FUNCTION_BEGIN(public, _, void, foo, 1)
MIRROR_REG_MEM_FUNCTION_PARAM(std::string, _s)MIRROR_REG_MEM_FUNCTION_END(1, _)
MIRROR_REG_MEM_OVLD_FUNC_END(foo)MIRROR_REG_MEM_FUNCTIONS_END
MIRROR_REG_CLASS_ENDMIRROR_REG_END
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Scenarios
Scenario 1:
– Given a class C– Given an object o, instance of C– Identify all the methods available on o– Invoke a method using its name foo
template<class Unused>struct my_manufacturer<std::string, Unused> {
const std::string s;
template<class ConstructionInfo>inline my_manufacturer(const std::string _s,
const ConstructionInfo construction_info) : s(_s) {}
void finish(std::string) const {}
inline std::string operator()(void) const {return s;
}};
typedef mirror::invoker_maker<my_manufacturer, mirror::default_fact_suppliers,my_enumerator, void> my_invoker_maker;
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Scenarios
Boost.Mirror
– Uses complex code but can be easily and advantageously hidden in libraries
– Will possibly become part of Boost and the standard reflection library for C++
• http://kifri.fri.uniza.sk/~chochlik/jtc1_sc22_wg21/ std_cpp_refl-latest.pdf
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:namespace cse3009 {class C {private:
int i;public:
C(const int _i) : i(_i) {}int get_i(void) const {
return this->i;}void set_i(const int _i) {
this->i = _i;}void foo(const std::string _s) const {
std::cout << _s << this->i << std::endl;}
};}
– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
Save on disk the complete state of o(The type of o is cse3009::C)cse3009::C::i = 42
Restore from disk the object o at a later time43
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
int main(void) {cse3009::C * o = new cse3009::C(42);
std::cout << "Save on disk the complete state of o" << std::endl;save_on_disk(o);
std::cout << "Restore from disk the object o at a later time" << std::endl;restore_from_disk<cse3009::C>();
return 0;}
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
template<typename O>void save_on_disk(O * _o) {
using namespace mirror;
typedef MIRRORED_CLASS(O)meta_Class;std::cout << "\t(The type of o is " <<
meta_Class::full_name() << ")" << std::endl << "\t";mp::for_each_ii<all_member_variables<meta_Class>>(
info_printer_variables<O>(*_o));std::cout << std::endl;
}
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
template<class O>struct info_printer_variables {
O o;
inline info_printer_variables(O _o) : o(_o) {}
template<class IterInfo>void operator()(IterInfo) {
using namespace mirror;std::cout << IterInfo::type::full_name()
<< " = " << IterInfo::type::get(o);if (!IterInfo::is_last::value)
std::cout << ", ";}
};
Get the value of reflected variable
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
template<typename O>void restore_from_disk(void) {
using namespace mirror;
typedef typename my_factory_maker::factory<O>::type my_factory_type;my_factory_type my_factory(43);O o(my_factory());std::cout << "\t" << o.get_i() << std::endl;
}
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
typedef mirror::factory_maker<my_manufacturer, mirror::default_fact_suppliers,my_enumerator,void> my_factory_maker;
Factory generating instancesof (possibly) different types
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Scenarios
Scenario 2:– Given an object o, instance of C– Save on disk the complete state of o– Restore from disk the object o at a later time
template<class Unused>struct my_manufacturer<void, Unused> {
template<typename Context>my_manufacturer(int _value, Context) { }
void finish(int) { }
template<class ConstructionInfo>inline int add_constructor(
int _value, ConstructionInfo) const {return _value;
}
inline int index(void) {return 0;
}};
To pass on to the constructor
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template<class Product, typename IsEnum>struct my_base_manufacturer {
Product x;
struct constr_param_name_printer {template<class IterInfo>inline void operator()(IterInfo) const {
if (!IterInfo::is_first::value)std::cout << ", ";
std::cout << IterInfo::type::base_name();}
};
struct constr_context_printer {template<class IterInfo>inline void operator()(IterInfo) const {
if (!IterInfo::is_first::value)std::cout << "::";
std::cout << IterInfo::type::base_name();}
};
template<class ConstructionInfo>my_base_manufacturer(int tabs,
ConstructionInfo construction_info,const Product& _x) : x(tabs) { }
void finish(int) {}
inline Product operator()(void) {return x;
}};
template<class Product, class Unused>struct my_enumerator :
my_base_manufacturer<Product, std::true_type> {template<class ConstructionInfo>inline my_enumerator(int tabs,
ConstructionInfo construction_info) :my_base_manufacturer<Product, std::true_type>(
tabs, construction_info, Product()) { }
void finish(int) { }
inline Product operator()(void) {return NULL;
}};
template<class Product, class Unused>struct my_manufacturer {
typedef typename mirror::factory_maker<my_manufacturer,mirror::default_fact_suppliers,my_enumerator,Unused> maker;
typename maker::template factory<Product>::type f;
template<class ConstructionInfo>inline my_manufacturer(
int _value, ConstructionInfo construction_info) :f(construction_info) { }
void finish(int) { }
inline Product operator()(void) {return f();
}};
Less complex than it looks!
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:namespace cse3009 {class C {private:
int i;static int numberOfInstances;
public:C(const int _i) : i(_i) {
numberOfInstances++;}...void foo(const std::string _s) const {
std::cout << _s << this->i << std::endl;}static int getNumberOfInstances() {
return numberOfInstances;}
};}
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
int cse3009::C::numberOfInstances = 0;
int main(void) {cse3009::C * o1 = new cse3009::C(42);cse3009::C * o2 = new cse3009::C(1);cse3009::C * o3 = new cse3009::C(100);
std::cout << o1 << std::endl << o2 << std::endl << o3 << std::endl;
std::cout << cse3009::C::getNumberOfInstances() << std::endl;
return 0;}
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
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Scenarios
Scenario 3:
0x800418f80x800419080x800419183
– Given a class C– Record the numbers of its instance ever created– Report this number when the program ends
To fulfill this scenario, we must modify C as in Java
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
Several choices• Bjarne Stroustrup's Template:
http://www.stroustrup.com/wrapper.pdf• Herb Sutter's Functor-based Approach:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Going+Deep/ C-and-Beyond-2012-Herb-Sutter-Concurrency-and-Parallelism
• …
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
Several choices• Bjarne Stroustrup's Template:
http://www.stroustrup.com/wrapper.pdf• Herb Sutter's Functor-based Approach:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Going+Deep/ C-and-Beyond-2012-Herb-Sutter-Concurrency-and-Parallelism
• …
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
Bjarne Stroustrup's Template:(Prefix::operator->())This is o: 42
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
int main(void) {std::cout << "Bjarne Stroustrup's Template:" << std::endl;cse3009::C o2(42);Prefix<cse3009::C> prefixed_o2(&o2);prefixed_o2->foo("This is o: ");std::cout << std::endl;
return 0;}
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
template<class T>class Prefix {
T* p;public:
Prefix(T * _p) : p(_p) { }T* operator->() {
std::cout << "(Prefix::operator->())" << std::endl;return p;
}};
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Scenarios
Scenario 4:
– Is similar to a proxy in Java
– Cannot easily access and modify the arguments of the proxy’ed method call
– Makes it difficult to do something after the original method call
– Given an object o, instance of C– Without changing o or C– Change the behaviour of o.foo()
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Scenarios
Java
Smalltalk
C++
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Conclusion
Java
Smalltalk
C++
Differences in semanticsand syntax mostly due tothe presence (or absence)of virtual machines
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Outline
Rationale Definition Context
– Interconnections Scenarios Theory Conclusion Class Loading
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Theory
Class– A programming construct that encapsulates
some state (fields) and behaviours (methods)– A construct whose instances are objects
Metaclass– A programming construct that encapsulates
some state (fields) and behaviours (methods)– A construct whose instances are classes
Aristote (Ἀριστοτέλης)*-384 †-322
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Theory
An object is an instance of a class– A class generates an object
A class is an instance of a metaclass– A metaclass generates a class
A metaclass is an instance of…(a) A meta-metaclass?(b) Itself?
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Theory
An object is an instance of a class– A class generates an object
A class is an instance of a metaclass– A metaclass generates a class
A metaclass is an instance of…(a) A meta-metaclass?(b) Itself
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Theory
The class Object is the parent of all classes, including metaclasses
The class Class is the generator of all classes, including Object
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TheoryJava
[http://www.ogis-ri.co.jp/otc/hiroba/technical/Squeak4/img/metaHiera9.gif]
Smalltalk
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Theory
The classes– Class– Method– Field– …
reify constructs of the programming languages, they become first-class entities, to allow programs to manipulate these constructs at runtime
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Theory
Java Field C
Method C
Static field C
Static method C
Smalltalk Instance variable C
Instance method C
Class variable C class
Class method C class
Class instance variables– To count the numbers of
instances of subclasses of C(D, E…) independently from one another
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Theory
Earlier, we said that reflection is of– Theoretical interest
• What is an interpreter?Brian Cantwell Smith “Procedural Reflection in Programming Languages” (Ph.D. thesis, 1982)
– Practical interest• Libraries• Frameworks
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Theory
Earlier, we said that reflection is of– Theoretical interest
• What is an interpreter?Brian Cantwell Smith “Procedural Reflection in Programming Languages” (Ph.D. thesis, 1982)
– Practical interest• Libraries• Frameworks
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Theory
Earlier, we said that reflection is of– Theoretical interest
• What is an interpreter?Brian Cantwell Smith “Procedural Reflection in Programming Languages” (Ph.D. thesis, 1982)
– Practical interest• Libraries• Frameworks
A virtual machine is an interpreter
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Theory
In Java, the metaclass is anonymous and cannot be modified
In Smalltalk, “[t]here is only one instance of a particular Metaclass, namely the class which is being described”
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Theory
Many other variations are possible– LISP– Perl 5– Perl 6– Python– …– MetaclassTalk– NeoClassTalk– …
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Theory
A Meta Object Protocol exposes some or all internal structure of the interpreter to the programmer
The MOP is (often) a set of classes and methods that allow a program to inspect the state of the supporting system and alter its behaviour
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Theory
A MOP can be accessible– Compile-time
• OpenJava– Load-time
• Javassist– Run-time
• MetaJava• AspectJ
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Outline
Rationale Definition Context
– Interconnections Scenarios Theory Conclusion Class Loading
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Conclusion
Scenario 1: invoke an arbitrary method on an object (see the problems with instanceof and plugins)
Scenario 2: access the complete (including private) state of an object (see the problem with serialisation)
Scenario 3: count the number of instances of a class created at runtime (see the problem with debugging/profiling)
Scenario 4: modify the behaviour at run-time of a method without the need to recompile and restart the program (see the problem with patching)
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Conclusion
Reflection helps addressing these scenarios– Depends on the capabilities of the programming
language and underlying execution environment– Yields more or less elegant code
Use reflection sparingly and purposefully– Complexity– Performance
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Conclusion
Java
Smalltalk
C++
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Conclusion
Java
Smalltalk
C++
Differences in semanticsand syntax mostly due tothe presence (or absence)of virtual machines
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Outline
Rationale Definition Context
– Interconnections Scenarios Theory Conclusion Class Loading
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Class Loading
Virtual machines– Interpreters– Closed world
Must– Access resources– Load classes
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Class Loading
Virtual machines– Interpreters– Closed world
Must– Access resources– Load classes
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Class Loading
Virtual machines– Interpreters– Closed world
Must– Access resources– Load classes
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Class Loading
Example– Given an interface ICommand– Load at runtime a class implementing ICommand using its binary name
• A binary name is in the form <pckg1>.….<pckgn>.<ClassName>– net.ptidej.reflection.java.scenario1.C
final Class<ICommand> command =this.classLoader.loadClass(binaryName);
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Class Loading
http://map.sdsu.edu/geog583/images/week8.3.gif
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Class Loading
http://www.onjava.com/2005/01/26/graphics/Figure01_MultipleClassLoaders.JPG
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Class Loading
public class ClassLoader extends java.lang.ClassLoader {private final String directory;
public ClassLoader(final java.lang.ClassLoader parent,final String directory) {
super(parent);this.directory = directory;
}
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Class Loadingprotected Class findClass(final String name) {
Class newClass = null;try {
newClass = super.findClass(name);}catch (final ClassNotFoundException cnfe) {
final String osName =this.directory + name.replace('.', '/') + ".class";
try {final FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(osName);newClass = this.defineClasses(name, fis);
}catch (final ClassFormatError cfe) {
cfe.printStackTrace(Output.getInstance().errorOutput());}catch (final FileNotFoundException fnfe) {
// fnfe.printStackTrace();}
}
return newClass;}
Use the method defined inthe superclass on this CL
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Class Loadingprivate Class defineClasses(final String name, final InputStream inputStream) {
try {int b;int length = 0;byte[] bytes = new byte[4];while ((b = inputStream.read()) != -1) {
if (length == bytes.length) {final byte[] temp = new byte[length + 4];System.arraycopy(bytes, 0, temp, 0, length);bytes = temp;
}bytes[length] = (byte) b;length++;
}
System.out.println(name);final Class newClass = this.defineClass(name, bytes, 0, length);return newClass;
}catch (final IOException ioe) {
return null;}catch (final NoClassDefFoundError ncdfe) {
ncdfe.printStackTrace(Output.getInstance().errorOutput());return null;
}}
Use the method defined inthe superclass on this CL
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Class Loading
http://www.onjava.com/2005/01/26/graphics/Figure01_MultipleClassLoaders.JPG
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Class Loadingprotected Class findClass(final String name) {
Class newClass = null;try {
newClass = this.getParent().loadClass(name);}catch (final ClassNotFoundException cnfe) {
final String osName =this.directory + name.replace('.', '/') + ".class";
try {final FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(osName);newClass = this.defineClasses(name, fis);
}catch (final ClassFormatError cfe) {
cfe.printStackTrace(Output.getInstance().errorOutput());}catch (final FileNotFoundException fnfe) {
// fnfe.printStackTrace();}
}
return newClass;}
Ask the parent CL if italready knows the class
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Conclusion
Virtual machines must access resources and load classes, in specific cases– Can extend ClassLoader– Must override (typically) method
•Class findClass(String)
– Must be careful with inheritance vs. delegation!•super vs. getParent()