What is "type introspection"

n. (context programming object-oriented English) Ability of a program to examine at runtime the type or properties of an object.

In computing, type introspection is the ability of a program to examine the type or properties of an object at runtime. Some programming languages possess this capability.

Introspection should not be confused with reflection, which goes a step further and is the ability for a program to manipulate the values, meta-data, properties and/or functions of an object at runtime. Some programming languages - e.g. Java, Python and Go - also possess that capability.