Question

public class MyClass {
    private String s = "foo";
}

Is it possible to get "foo" using reflection without having to instantiate a new MyClass?

Field field = MyClass.class.getDeclaredField("s");
// -- ideally: --
// Object initializationValue = field.getInitializationValue();
// assert initializationValue.equals("foo");

Answer 1

Initialization statements like you have shown are actually moved into the constructor of the class, by the compiler. You need to actually instantiate a class in order for them to be executed. This is all behind the scenes of course. But in answer to your question, no, you cannot, not with reflection anyway.

But you could possibly determine those field values with static analysis tools like Soot, etc.