The execute method finds a method whose name is the same as the methodName property, and invokes the method on the target. When the target's class defines many methods with the given name the implementation should choose the most specific method using the algorithm specified in the Java Language Specification (15.11). The dynamic class of the target and arguments are used in place of the compile-time type information and, like the
java.lang.reflect.Method
class itself, conversion between primitive values and their associated wrapper classes is handled internally.
The following method types are handled as special cases:
- Static methods may be called by using a class object as the target.
- The reserved method name "new" may be used to call a class's constructor as if all classes defined static "new" methods. Constructor invocations are typically considered
Expression
s rather than Statement
s as they return a value. - The method names "get" and "set" defined in the
java.util.List
interface may also be applied to array instances, mapping to the static methods of the same name in the Array
class.