Object-Oriented Programming A Unified Foundation (Progress in Theoretical Computer Science) - Softcover

Castagna, Giuseppe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1461286700 ISBN 13: 9781461286707

Publisher: Birkhäuser, 2011

Synopsis

by Luea Cardelli Ever since Strachey's work in the 1960's, polymorphism has been classified into the parametric and overloading varieties. Parametric polymorphism has been the subject of extensive study for over two decades. Overloading, on the other hand, has often been considered too ad hoc to deserve much attention even though it has been, in some form, an ingredient of virtually every programming lan­ guage (much more so than parametric polymorphism). With the introduction of object-oriented languages, and in particular with multiple-dispatch object-oriented languages, overloading has become less of a programming convenience and more of a fundamental feature in need of proper explanation. This book provides a compelling framework for the study of run-time over­ loading and of its interactions with subtyping and with parametric polymorphism. The book also describes applications to object-oriented programming. This new framework is motivated by the relatively recent spread of programming languages that are entirely based on run-time overloading; this fact probably explains why this subject was not investigated earlier. Once properly understood, overloading reveals itself relevant also to the study of older and more conventional (single­ dispatch) object-oriented languages, clarifying delicate issues of covariance and contravariance of method types, and of run-time type analysis. In the final chapters, a synthesis is made between parametric and overloading polymorphism.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The language Simula is the precursor of all object-oriented languages. It imposed a certain style of programming that was followed by all class-based object-oriented languages until the appearance of the so-called multiple-dispatching languages such as CLOS, in which a different style of object-oriented programming arose. This new style was induced by the clear separation in these languages between objects and methods.

Review

Castagna has done a brilliant job of modeling the concepts needed to compare the different styles of object-oriented programming. This is not an easy read, but you'll come away having learned something. -- The The USENIX Association Newsletter

The book provides a model for uniform analysis of the basic issues of object-oriented programming. It is self contained and may be used by researchers, teachers and practitioners as well. -- Zentralblatt Fur Mathematik Und Ihre Grenzgebiete, BD. 871, 1997

This book bridges the gap between theory and practice of OO programming. Without making theoretical concessions, Castagna manages to make typing issues accessible to both practitioners and theoreticians through a well-thought out and clear presentation. The important contributions he has made are a major step forward. I would like to recommend this book especially to OO programming practitioners who would like to obtain a more thorough understanding of the underlying issues, and to teachers and scholars in this field. -- L'OBJET, 1997

Edition details

• Publisher: Birkhäuser
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1461286700
• ISBN 13: 9781461286707
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 384