Abstract

This paper suggests virtual types for Java, a language mechanism which subsumes parameterized classes, while also integrating more naturally with Java's object model. The same basic mechanism is also known as virtual patterns in Beta and as generics in Ada95. We discuss various issues in the Java type system, issues with inheritance and genericity in general, and give a specific suggestion as to how virtual types should be integrated into Java. Finally we describe how to make an e#cient implementation of virtual types based only upon the existing Java virtual machine. 1 Introduction Java is a new programming language which is interesting for many reasons. First of all, it is not the result of a language-research project in the traditional academic sense. Java is the result of engineering work, assembling many useful features developed for other programming languages, most visibly language features of Simula [6], Objective C [24] and C+ + [8]. In fact, it has been an expressed goal i...

Citations

8	Object, message, and performance: how they coexist in Self - Ungar, Smith, et al. - 1992
2	Are cows animals - Shang - 1996
1	Readings in Object Oriented Databases - Zdonik, Maier - 1990