[ACCEPTED]-Java implementation - Meta classes-metaclass
In Java there's a single metaclass: the 4 instances of the class Class are used to represent 3 the types of classes and interfaces. The 2 constructors are defined at the class level, not 1 at the metaclass level.
Your question targets nothing special about 20 constructors: From the point of describing 19 classes on a metalevel there is the same 18 concept for constructors, "normal methods" and 17 fields.
So think of it this way:
Each class in 16 Java is described by a certain set of informations:
- Name of the class
- the superclass
- the implemented interfaces
- a list of constructors and their signatures
- a list of (static and non-static) methods and their signatures
- a list of (static and non-static) fields and their types
For 15 your convenience this information is available 14 to you during runtime - this is the "reflection 13 API".
Since the same type of information 12 is available for each class loaded by the 11 JVM, this is bundled in a own class named 10
java.lang.Class.So one instance of the class
Classdescribes the class 9java.lang.String, another instance ofClassdescribesmy.own.class.Foo.java.lang.Classitself is of 8 course also a class - therefore there also 7 exists an instance ofClassdescribing the classClass. And 6 I think that's where things get recursive 5 somehow.
Summary: There is only one metaclass: java.lang.Class. Multiple 4 instances (meta-instance?) of the metaclass 3 describe individual classes - including 2 the metaclass itself. Constructor descriptions are part 1 of the instances of the metaclass.
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