Getting Method objects without reflection

Question

This is a shameless plug to try to get votes for a recent bug I've filed:
http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6356762
For a long time, it's bothered me that there is no way other than reflection to obtain Method and Field objects to identify components of classes. It should be possible to write something like MyClass.class.nameOfMyField to obtain the FIeld object directly. With the current reflection-only method, one has to obtain these by looking up their String names. So:
-there's no way for the compiler to detect syntax errors at compile time
-no real way to obfuscate this code
-debugging is more difficult because you are working indirectly through strings
-it's inelegant to use Strings to perform at runtime what the compiler should be able to do at compile time
One of the most immediate uses for this could be with classes conforming to the Beans pattern. Instead of specifying String names directly when firing property change events (whilch always risks a typo cauing a hard to trace error), you could obtain the coresponding Field object and call getName() on it.
If something like this could be provided in Mustang, I would be in seventh heaven. Please vote for the bug, or let me know what you think about this.

Answer 1

I would definately have usage of that. I've always loved function pointers in C, and jump tables in assembler.
Kaj