Towards automatic and dynamic meta-object protocol composition in a compiled, reflective programming language

Abstract

This thesis describes a reflective programming model that provides a solution to the problem of automatic and dynamic metaobject composition in a compiled reflective prograrnming language, Iguana/C++. Meta-object protocols (mops) reify elements of an object-oriented programming language and are used to alter the behaviour of the language's default object model in order to transparently implement common non-functional concerns such as object state persistence, synchronisation, remote invocation, authentication, encryption, fault-tolerance (replication), and logging at the meta-level. The use of MOPs in this manner facilitates the separation of concerns.