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Abstract : |
Object-oriented programming relies on inter-object aliases to implement data structures and other abstractions. Objects have mutable state, but it is when mutable state interacts with aliasing that problems arise. Through aliasing an object's state can be changed without the object being aware of the changes, potentially violating the object's invariants. This problem is fundamentally unresolvable. Many idioms such as the Observer design pattern rely on it. Hence aliasing cannot be eliminated from object-oriented programming, it can only be managed. Various proposals have appeared in the literature addressing the issue of alias management. The most promising are based on alias encapsulation, which limits access to objects to within certain well-defined boundaries. Our approach called ownership, |
