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CHAPTER 5: Object Tools > The Reflection API
The Reflection API
PHP 5's Reflection API is to PHP what the java.lang.reflect package is to Java. It consists of built-in classes for analyzing properties, methods, and classes. It's similar in some respects to existing object functions, such as get_class_vars(), but is more flexible and provides much greater detail. It's also designed to work with PHP's object-oriented features, such as access control, interfaces, and abstract classes, in a way that the older, more limited class functions are not.
Getting Started
The Reflection API can be used to examine more than just classes. For example, the ReflectionFunction class provides information about a given function, and ReflectionExtension yields insight about an extension compiled into the language. Table 5-1 lists some of the classes in the API.
