Dynamically Extensible Objects in a Class-Based Language
René W. Schmidt
Department of Computer Science
University of Aarhus
DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
email: rws@cs.au.dk
Abstract
Object-oriented programming techniques allow the construction of
reusable and extensible code. However, class-based languages have poor
support for expressing type-orthogonal behaviour and extending
non-leaf classes, which result in implementations with poor
performance or limited functionality. This paper presents dynamic
slots, a mechanism for extending objects at runtime. We show how this
mechanism can be used to build efficient implementations of
type-orthogonal abstractions. Dynamic slots have been integrated into
the BETA programming language, and performance measurements of a
persistent store show that they significantly improve performance.
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René W. Schmidt <rws@cs.au.dk>