Exceptions, Attributes, and Reflection

Abstract

In this chapter, you’ll begin by looking at aspects of exception handling in C++/CLI that are not present in classic C++. Then you’ll look at attributes, which supply metadata for a type and, although not part of standard C++, may be familiar if you’ve used previous versions of Visual C++. You’ll learn how to use the existing .NET Framework attributes, examine some of the common ones, and look at how to define and use your own attributes. Finally, you’ll get a brief overview of the reflection features of the .NET Framework, which provide a way to discover information on a type at runtime and use that information to interact dynamically with a type.