reflect2

reflect api that avoids runtime reflect.Value cost

• reflect get/set interface{}, with type checking
• reflect get/set unsafe.Pointer, without type checking
• reflect2.TypeByName works like Class.forName found in java

json-iterator use this package to save runtime dispatching cost. This package is designed for low level libraries to optimize reflection performance. General application should still use reflect standard library.

reflect2.TypeByName

// given package is github.com/your/awesome-package
type MyStruct struct {
    // ...
}

// will return the type
reflect2.TypeByName("awesome-package.MyStruct")
// however, if the type has not been used
// it will be eliminated by compiler, so we can not get it in runtime

reflect2 get/set interface{}

valType := reflect2.TypeOf(1)
i := 1
j := 10
valType.Set(&i, &j)
// i will be 10

to get set type, always use its pointer *type

reflect2 get/set unsafe.Pointer

valType := reflect2.TypeOf(1)
i := 1
j := 10
valType.UnsafeSet(unsafe.Pointer(&i), unsafe.Pointer(&j))
// i will be 10

to get set type, always use its pointer *type

benchmark

Benchmark is not necessary for this package. It does nothing actually. As it is just a thin wrapper to make go runtime public. Both reflect2 and reflect call same function provided by runtime package exposed by go language.

unsafe safety

Instead of casting []byte to sliceHeader in your application using unsafe. We can use reflect2 instead. This way, if sliceHeader changes in the future, only reflect2 need to be upgraded.

reflect2 tries its best to keep the implementation same as reflect (by testing).