Dart - class exists from string - class instance from string

Question

I was wondering if it is possible to find out whether a class (in the same library) exists by name (String) and also if it is possible to create an instance of a class from a name (String).

In PHP you can do it like:

$className = 'SomeClass';
if (class_exists($className))
    $instance = new $className;

Answer 1

I would do it more like

import 'dart:mirrors';

class SomeClass {}

main() {
  String className = 'SomeClass';
  var instance;

  ClassMirror cm = currentMirrorSystem().isolate.rootLibrary.declarations[
      new Symbol(className)];
  if (cm != null) {
    instance = cm.newInstance(new Symbol(''), []).reflectee;
  }
  print(instance);
}