Determine bean's property type
import org.apache.commons.beanutils.PropertyUtils; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { Recording recording = new Recording(); recording.setTitle("Magical Mystery Tour"); Class type = PropertyUtils.getPropertyType(recording, "title"); System.out.println("type = " + type.getName()); String value = (String) PropertyUtils.getProperty(recording, "title"); System.out.println("value = " + value); } }