Cannot change static final field using java reflection?

Question

I recently stumbled upon Change private static final field using Java reflection and tested polygenelubricants\' EverythingIsTrue class, works fine, Syste

Answer 1

You can avoid compiler inlining by making the value a result of a method call, even a dummy one.

public class Main {
    // value is not known at compile time, so not inlined
    public static final boolean FLAG = Boolean.parseBoolean("false");

    static void setFinalStatic(Class clazz, String fieldName, Object newValue) throws NoSuchFieldException, IllegalAccessException {
        Field field = clazz.getDeclaredField(fieldName);
        field.setAccessible(true);
        Field modifiers = field.getClass().getDeclaredField("modifiers");
        modifiers.setAccessible(true);
        modifiers.setInt(field, field.getModifiers() & ~Modifier.FINAL);
        field.set(null, newValue);
    }

    public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
        System.out.printf("Everything is %s%n", FLAG);
        setFinalStatic(Main.class, "FLAG", true);
        System.out.printf("Everything is %s%n", FLAG);
    }
}

prints

Everything is false
Everything is true