Bizarre Question - Accessing Variables w/ a String

Question

Im obsessed with finding a way to do this, haha, but i dont know
if its remotely possible.
Instead of explaining it i will post some pseudo-code...
class HackClass{
int AVar = 1;
int BVar = 2;
int CVar = 3;
// ...use some arbitrary method of getting user input
String input = // user's input, in this case it is = "AVar"
// and then what im trying to achieve...
// im looking for something like this ---> (variable)input = 5;
System.out.println("Avar = " + AVar); // this would output 5
Note, this is very oversimplified. So though it would be easy in this example, i am not looking to register every
variable in some table and then use some elaborate lookup function with the string, rather, is there a way to refer to a variable in code with a string?
I cant imagine there is, but that would be WICKED.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Answer 1

Wow. Thanks for the code.
Im writing test code now.
You said this was "java-beanish"... is it reflection?
Because the only way it compiles is if i import...
import java.lang.reflect.*;also, in your code you never defined the variable 'object' in
method.invoke(object, invokeParam);and for anyone else interested in the code - here is my test class:
import java.lang.reflect.*;
public class HackThis{
public static void main(String[] args) {
     String var = "Var1";
     Integer value = new Integer( 1234 );
     HackThis ht = new HackThis();
     Class[] param = new Class[1];
     param[0] = value.getClass();
     Method method = ht.getClass().getMethod("set" + var, param);
     Object[] invokeParam = new Object[1];
     invokeParam[0] = value;
     method.invoke(object, invokeParam);
public HackThis(){
public Integer getVar1(){
     return Var1;
public void setVar1(Integer i){
     Var1 = i;
     Integer Var1 = new Integer(99);
}...but note it wont compile because 'object' hasnt been defined yet