Abstract

Reflection, reflection-based programming and metaprogramming are valuable tools for many programming tasks, like the implementation of persistence and serialization-like operations, object-relational mapping, remote method invocation, automatic generation of user-interfaces, etc., and also for the implementation of several design patterns. C++ as one of the most prevalent programming languages still lacks support for standardised, compiler-assisted reflection. In this paper we introduce in short the Mirror reflection library which is a part of an ongoing effort to add reflection to C++ and we will show how reflection can be used to greatly simplify the implementation of object factories – classes constructing instances of other classes from various external data representations.

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Cite this article

@article{cai-1283,
  author  = {Matuš Chochlík},
  title   = {Implementing the Factory Pattern with the Help of Reflection},
  journal = {Computing and Informatics},
  volume  = {35},
  number  = {3},
  pages   = {653--686},
  year    = {2016},
  issn    = {1335-9150},
  url     = {https://cai.type.sk/content/2016/3/implementing-the-factory-pattern-with-the-help-of-reflection/}
}
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