Integrating Independently-Developed Components in Object-Oriented
Languages
Urs Hölzle
Abstract:
Object-oriented programming promises to increase programmer
productivity through better reuse of existing code. However, reuse is not yet
pervasive in today's object-oriented programs. Why is this so? We argue that
one reason is that current programming languages and environments assume
that components are perfectly coordinated. Yet in a world where programs
are mostly composed out of reusable components, these components are not
likely to be completely integrated because the sheer number of components
would make global coordination impractical. Given that seemingly minor in
consistencies between individually designed components would exist, we ex
amine how they can lead to integration problems with current programming
language mechanisms. We discuss several reuse mechanisms that can adapt
a component in place without requiring access to the component's source
code and without needing to re-typecheck it.
ECOOP '93 Conference Proceedings, Kaiserslautern, Germany, July, 1993.
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