Getting Only a Class's Own Methods in Java Using Reflection
on channel: blogize
Learn how to retrieve only the methods defined in a particular class, excluding those inherited from parent classes, using Java Reflection.
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Getting Only a Class's Own Methods in Java Using Reflection
When working with Java Reflection, retrieving the methods that are specifically defined within a class can be a useful task. Often, developers need to distinguish between methods that are inherited from parent classes and those that are unique to the class in question. The getMethods() method in Java Reflection returns all public methods regardless of where they are defined. However, there is a way to filter out inherited methods and get only a class's own methods.
Using getDeclaredMethods()
The java.lang.Class class provides a method called getDeclaredMethods(). This method returns an array of Method objects representing all the declared methods of the class or interface represented by this Class object, including public, protected, default (package) access, and private methods, but excludes inherited methods.
Here is an example:
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In this example, declaredMethods will contain methodOne, methodTwo, methodThree, and methodFour, but it will not include methods inherited from Object or any other superclass.
Filtering Methods
In some cases, you may still want to exclude certain method access levels (e.g., private methods). You can filter the methods based on their modifiers using the java.lang.reflect.Modifier class. Here’s how:
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In this case, only methodOne() will be printed since it is the only public method.
Conclusion
Using Java Reflection, you can easily retrieve and manipulate the methods that are specifically defined within a class using the getDeclaredMethods() method. This approach helps in differentiating between a class’s own methods and inherited ones, allowing for more precise control during runtime class inspections or dynamic method invocations.
Whether you're debugging code, creating dynamic proxies, or implementing custom serialization mechanisms, understanding how to work with a class's own methods is an indispensable skill for advanced Java programming.
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