When do you use reflection? Patterns/anti-patterns

Question

I understand the reflection API (in c#) but I am not sure in what situation would I use it. What are some patterns - anti-patterns for using reflection?

Answer 1

I use it in a binary serializer (protobuf-net). I use reflection only to build the model - when it is used (i.e. during [de]serialization) it is using delegates etc for maximum performance.

I also used it (along with ComponentModel and Reflection.Emit) in HyperDescriptor, to build accelerated property access (~100x the speed of regular reflection).

And by necessity, you need to use reflection if you are building your own Expressions.