Java has annotation processors which can perform code generation, just like Serde does.
Manifold [1] an example framework that relies heavily on that, achieving similar things like Serde.
Java developers don't like to use these things too much though, unlike Rust developers who love their `#derive`, so you're mostly right that reflection-based serialization is still more common, but that's by choice.
Dependency Injection is in a similar situation: frameworks like Micronaut [2] can do it without reflection, and things like Google Dagger [3] have existed for several years that do the same thing... but still, most Spring Boot-based projects I know of use reflection-based DI as well... it's fast and the security issues have been largely mitigated nowadays.
Manifold [1] an example framework that relies heavily on that, achieving similar things like Serde.
Java developers don't like to use these things too much though, unlike Rust developers who love their `#derive`, so you're mostly right that reflection-based serialization is still more common, but that's by choice.
Dependency Injection is in a similar situation: frameworks like Micronaut [2] can do it without reflection, and things like Google Dagger [3] have existed for several years that do the same thing... but still, most Spring Boot-based projects I know of use reflection-based DI as well... it's fast and the security issues have been largely mitigated nowadays.
[1] http://manifold.systems/
[2] https://docs.micronaut.io/latest/guide/
[3] https://rskupnik.github.io/dependency-injection-in-pet-proje...