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A unifying type-theoretic framework for objects

Part of: JFP Research Articles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Martin Hofmann  and
Benjamin Pierce
Martin Hofmann
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, UK
Benjamin Pierce
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, UK
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Abstract

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We give a direct type-theoretic characterization of the basic mechanisms of object-oriented programming, including objects, methods, message passing, and subtyping, by introducing an explicit constructor for object types and suitable introduction, elimination, and equality rules. The resulting abstract framework provides a basis for justifying and comparing previous encodings of objects based on recursive record types (Cardelli, 1984; Cardelli, 1992; Bruce, 1994; Cook et al., 1990; Mitchell, 1990a) and encodings based on existential types (Pierce & Turner, 1994).

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Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Functional Programming , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , October 1995 , pp. 593 - 635
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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