Source generators in .NET: how they have displaced reflection from the standard library

▤ Summary

This article explains how .NET source generators replace runtime reflection in common scenarios such as JSON serialization, logging, regular expressions, and configuration binding. It shows how Microsoft has expanded generator support across recent .NET releases and why the approach improves performance, IDE support, and Native AOT compatibility. The piece also highlights practical examples using JsonSerializerContext, LoggerMessage, GeneratedRegex, and configuration binding generators. It closes by noting that source generators reduce boilerplate and are becoming a standard part of modern C# development.

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