The type of class symbols representing class and trait definitions.
The API of class symbols.
The API of class symbols. The main source of information about symbols is the Symbols page.
Class Symbol defines isXXX test methods such as isPublic or isFinal, params and
returnType methods for method symbols, baseClasses for class symbols and so on. Some of these methods don't
make sense for certain subclasses of Symbol and return NoSymbol, Nil or other empty values.
The type of method symbols representing def declarations.
The API of method symbols.
The API of method symbols. The main source of information about symbols is the Symbols page.
Class Symbol defines isXXX test methods such as isPublic or isFinal, params and
returnType methods for method symbols, baseClasses for class symbols and so on. Some of these methods don't
make sense for certain subclasses of Symbol and return NoSymbol, Nil or other empty values.
The type of module symbols representing object declarations.
The API of module symbols.
The API of module symbols. The main source of information about symbols is the Symbols page.
Class Symbol defines isXXX test methods such as isPublic or isFinal, params and
returnType methods for method symbols, baseClasses for class symbols and so on. Some of these methods don't
make sense for certain subclasses of Symbol and return NoSymbol, Nil or other empty values.
The type of symbols representing declarations.
The API of symbols.
The API of symbols. The main source of information about symbols is the Symbols page.
Class Symbol defines isXXX test methods such as isPublic or isFinal, params and
returnType methods for method symbols, baseClasses for class symbols and so on. Some of these methods don't
make sense for certain subclasses of Symbol and return NoSymbol, Nil or other empty values.
The type of term symbols representing val, var, def, and object declarations as well as packages and value parameters.
The API of term symbols.
The API of term symbols. The main source of information about symbols is the Symbols page.
Class Symbol defines isXXX test methods such as isPublic or isFinal, params and
returnType methods for method symbols, baseClasses for class symbols and so on. Some of these methods don't
make sense for certain subclasses of Symbol and return NoSymbol, Nil or other empty values.
The type of type symbols representing type, class, and trait declarations, as well as type parameters.
The API of type symbols.
The API of type symbols. The main source of information about symbols is the Symbols page.
Class Symbol defines isXXX test methods such as isPublic or isFinal, params and
returnType methods for method symbols, baseClasses for class symbols and so on. Some of these methods don't
make sense for certain subclasses of Symbol and return NoSymbol, Nil or other empty values.
A special "missing" symbol.
A special "missing" symbol. Commonly used in the API to denote a default or empty value.
The methods available for each reflection entity, without the implementation. Since the reflection entities are later overridden by runtime reflection and macros, their API counterparts guarantee a minimum set of methods that are implemented.
EXPERIMENTAL
This trait defines symbols and operations on them.
Symbols are used to establish bindings between a name and the entity it refers to, such as a class or a method. Anything you define and can give a name to in Scala has an associated symbol.
Symbols contain all available information about the declaration of an entity (class/object/trait etc.) or a member (vals/vars/defs etc.), and as such are an integral abstraction central to both runtime reflection and macros.
A symbol can provide a wealth of information ranging from the basic
namemethod available on all symbols to other, more involved, concepts such as getting thebaseClassesfromClassSymbol. Other common use cases of symbols include inspecting members' signatures, getting type parameters of a class, getting the parameter type of a method or finding out the type of a field.Example usage of runtime reflection; getting a method's type signature:
Symbols are organized in a hierarchy. For example, a symbol that represents a parameter of a method is owned by the corresponding method symbol, a method symbol is owned by its enclosing class, a class is owned by a containing package and so on.
Certain types of tree nodes, such as Ident (references to identifiers) and Select (references to members) expose method
symbolto obtain the symbol that represents their declaration. During the typechecking phase, the compiler looks up the symbol based on the name and scope and sets thesymbolfield of tree nodes.For more information about
Symbolusage and attached intricacies, see the Reflection Guide: Symbols