`nameof` operator in flutter

Question

There is nameof operator in C#, it allows to get property name at compile time:

var name = nameof(User.email);
Console.WriteLine(name);
//Prints: email

It is not possible to use reflection in flutter and I do not want to hardcode names of properties i.e. to be used for querying SQLite tables. Is there any workaround?

***Currently I'm using built_value library.

Answer 1

For the archives, I guess, this isn't possible as Dart doesn't store the names of variables after compiling, and as you mentioned, Flutter doesn't support reflection.

But you can still hardcode responsibly by grouping your properties as part of the object that they belong to, like with JSON:

class User {
  final String email;
  final String name;
  const User({required this.email, required this.name});

  Map toJson() => {
    "email": email,
    "name": name,
  };
}

Instead of remembering to type out "email" and "name" whenever you use User, just call User.toJson(). Then, when you want to rename your variables, you can use your IDE's "rename all", or just skim over your User class to quickly change all of the names without missing any.

Answer 2

You can implement your own nameOf function:

String? nameOf(dynamic o) {
  if (o == null) return "null";

  try {
    if (o is List) {
      var first = o.length > 0 ? o[0] : null;
      if (first != null) {
        var elementType = nameOf(first)!;
        Log.debug("nameOf: List<$elementType>");
        if (!isMinified(elementType))
          return "List<$elementType>";
      }
    } else {
      Function? getTypeName = o.getTypeName;
      if (getTypeName != null) return getTypeName();
    }
  } catch (e) {
    Log.debug("ignored nameOf error: $e, falling back to o.runtimeType: ${o.runtimeType}");
  }

  return o.runtimeType.toString();
}

bool isMinified(String type) => type.startsWith("minified:");