InfoWorld

Better than reflection: Using method handles and variable handles in Java

Reflection was essential to the advanced Java toolkit for years. Now it's being superseded by newer, safer options. Here's how to use MethodHandle and VarHandle to gain programmatic access to methods ...
Ars Technica

Java: ArrayList.contains(Object o) isn't calling the correct equals method

It's not terribly clean, but you could use indexOf() and check if it returns -1. Better than breaking out a loop.