Reflection is an integral part of the AmbientTalk programming language. Through the use of reflection, the core language can be extended with both programming support as well as new language constructs. Both examples require a different kind of reflective access. The introduction of programming support (e.g. to visualise AmbientTalk objects) relies on introspection, the ability for a program to inspect an reason about parts of its own state. This particular flavour of reflection is quite popular and is available in most contemporary programming languages. AmbientTalk goes beyond introspection and also allows objects to supply alternative semantics for the default meta-level operations. This particular form of reflection, called intercession, allows enriching AmbientTalk from within the language itself.

The reflective model of AmbientTalk is based on mirrors, meta-level objects which allow one to reflect on an objects state and behaviour. How to create such mirrors and how they can be used is demonstrated in the first part of the tutorial. The second part of the tutorial showcases how to construct mirages, objects which override the default meta-level operations with custom behaviour. This tutorial concludes with a brief overview of the meta-level operations which are offered by AmbientTalk mirrors.