Java：反射（在运行时）与镜像（在注释处理中）

Question

I understand the general differences between the concepts of

• reflection (done at runtime using Class, Method, Field, Annotation, ... ), and
• mirroring (done during annotation processing using TypeMirror, TypeElement, ... ).

But can someone please compare the two concepts in-depth (or point me to a resource, where it is done)?

For instance, which concept offers what kinds of information that the other does not offer...

Thank you.

Answer 1

• Reflection classes are used to represent the classes of objects in a running JVM . Reflection is a very old concept that has been present in Java since the very beginning. As such, it is a bit clunky in some areas, having been extended to accomodate new language constructs (especially generics).
• The classes in javax.lang.model are used to work with Java source code . They were designed when Generics already existed and can (and have to) support them much more extensively, since they are used before type erasure happens.

Answer 2

我想你会在本文中找到答案。