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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-04T21:14:16+00:00

I came across this class java.io.FileSystem and noticed it has many methods that I

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I came across this class java.io.FileSystem and noticed it has many methods that I currently need in my project. However the class is package-private, and so I am accessing the needed methods using reflection.

Questions:

  1. Is there any particular reason why this class is marked package private?
  2. Are there any dangers of accessing it via reflection? (Other than performance hit, that is.)
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    1. This class is package private because SUN (and by extension, Oracle) believe that the methods of this platform-dependent class are likely to undergo significant change in the future, and therefore must not be accessible directly. All implementations of this abstract class are in native code; Java programmers should not be able to create their own.

    2. The biggest danger of using a hidden class through reflection is not the performance, but a very real possibility that its methods or even the entire class would disappear in the next upgrade of the JDK, no matter how minor. Non-public APIs are, well, non-public; changing them is fair game even in a maintenance release, so you have only yourself to blame if your program stops working after what seemed like a routine JDK update.

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