What is the overhead of reflection in GetMethods
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29-09-2019 - |
Question
I just refactored a common piece of code in several parsers I have written. The code is used to automatically discover method implementations and it comes in quite handy to extend the existing parsers or to use more DRY code (especially I am working on this project alone):
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple = false)]
public class CallableAttribute : Attribute
{
public CallableAttribute()
: this(true)
{
// intentionally blank
}
private CallableAttribute(bool isCallable)
{
Callable = isCallable;
}
public bool Callable { get; private set; }
}
public class DynamicCallableMethodTable<TClass, THandle>
where THandle : class
{
private readonly IDictionary<string, THandle> _table = new Dictionary<string, THandle>();
public DynamicCallableMethodTable(TClass instance, Func<string, string> nameMangler,
BindingFlags bindingFlags = BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance)
{
var attributeType = typeof(CallableAttribute);
var classType = typeof(TClass);
var callableMethods = from methodInfo in classType.GetMethods(bindingFlags)
from CallableAttribute a in methodInfo.GetCustomAttributes(attributeType, false)
where a.Callable
select methodInfo;
foreach (var method in callableMethods)
_table[nameMangler(method.Name)] = method.CastToDelegate<THandle>(instance);
}
public bool TryGetMethod(string key, out THandle handle)
{
return _table.TryGetValue(key, out handle);
}
}
public static class MethodEx
{
public static TDelegate CastToDelegate<TDelegate>(this MethodInfo method, object receiver)
where TDelegate : class
{
return Delegate.CreateDelegate(typeof(TDelegate), receiver, method, true) as TDelegate;
}
}
Now I want to use this code in a class which might be created and destroyed frequently:
class ClassWhichUsesDiscoveryOnInstanceMethodAndIsShortLived
{
private DynamicCallableMethodTable<string, TSomeDelegate> _table = ...
public ClassWhichUsesDiscoveryOnInstanceMethodAndIsShortLived()
{
_table = new DynamicCallableMethodTable<string, TSomeDelegate>(this, ...);
}
}
so I was wandering over the overhead of GetMethods, if there is already some caching inside the .NET (4.0 can be used ...) implementation, or if I should use caching for the discovery process. I am really unsure how efficient the reflection calls are.
Solution
Based on the following idea of @Sergey
Yes, it's called MemberInfo cache. More on it here: msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163759.aspx – Sergey
I pulled out the static code into a static class, its based on the assumption that a generic static class field will have its own slot (even though it does not use the generic parameter?). Although I am not sure if I shouldn't store the MethodInfo Directly. The RuntimeMethodHandle seems to conserve space in the long run.
static class ReflectionMethodCache<TClass>
{
/// <summary>
/// this field gets a different slot for every usage of this generic static class
/// http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2685046/uses-for-static-generic-classes
/// </summary>
private static readonly ConcurrentDictionary<BindingFlags, IList<RuntimeMethodHandle>> MethodHandles;
static ReflectionMethodCache()
{
MethodHandles = new ConcurrentDictionary<BindingFlags, IList<RuntimeMethodHandle>>(2, 5);
}
public static IEnumerable<RuntimeMethodHandle> GetCallableMethods(BindingFlags bindingFlags)
{
return MethodHandles.GetOrAdd(bindingFlags, RuntimeMethodHandles);
}
public static List<RuntimeMethodHandle> RuntimeMethodHandles(BindingFlags bindingFlags)
{
return (from methodInfo in typeof (TClass).GetMethods(bindingFlags)
from CallableAttribute a in
methodInfo.GetCustomAttributes(typeof (CallableAttribute), false)
where a.Callable
select methodInfo.MethodHandle).ToList();
}
}
public class DynamicCallableMethodTable<TClass, THandle>
where THandle : class
{
private readonly IDictionary<string, THandle> _table = new Dictionary<string, THandle>();
public DynamicCallableMethodTable(TClass instance, Func<string, string> nameMangler,
BindingFlags bindingFlags = BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance)
{
var callableMethods = ReflectionMethodCache<TClass>.GetCallableMethods(bindingFlags);
foreach (MethodInfo methodInfo in callableMethods.Select(MethodBase.GetMethodFromHandle))
{
_table[nameMangler(methodInfo.Name)] = methodInfo.CastToDelegate<THandle>(instance);
}
}
public bool TryGetMethod(string key, out THandle handle)
{
return _table.TryGetValue(key, out handle);
}
}
public static class MethodEx
{
public static TDelegate CastToDelegate<TDelegate>(this MethodInfo method, object receiver)
where TDelegate : class
{
return Delegate.CreateDelegate(typeof(TDelegate), receiver, method, true) as TDelegate;
}
}