Component Development for the Java™ Platform

3.5. Reflection Performance

Reflective invocation is slower than direct method invocation. Similarly, using dynamic proxies as a generic forwarding device results in slower code than manually crafting interface-specific delegation code does. When is the performance penalty acceptable? Programmers who are used to dynamic, interpreted runtime environments are already accustomed to dynamic programming styles and see uses for reflection everywhere. On the other hand, programmers who are used to the performance of a strongly typed, compiled language often laugh at the slow speed of reflection and reject it outright.

The truth lies somewhere in between. Reflection is best suited for writing “glue”—code that sits at the boundaries between disparate ...