[Pl-seminar] Semantics Seminar Schedule

[Mitchell Wand]

NU Programming Languages Seminar
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Room 366 WVH (http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/wand/directions.html)
11:45am-1:30pm

A Core Calculus of Metaclasses

Sam Tobin-Hochstadt

Metaclasses provide a useful method of abstraction for programmers
working with object-oriented languages, but they have not seen the
formal exploration applied to more conventional object-oriented
programming features.  In order to elucidate the structure of
metaclasses and their relationship with static typing, we present a
core calculus for a nominally-typed object-oriented language with
metaclasses and prove type soundness over this core.  This calculus is
presented as an adaptation of Featherweight GJ, and is powerful enough
to capture metaclass relationships beyond what are expressible in
common object-oriented languages, including arbitrary metaclass
hierarchies and classes as values.  We also explore the integration of
object-oriented design patterns with metaclasses, and show how our
calculus integrates several such patterns cleanly.

Upcoming Events:

Open.  Any volunteers?

--Mitch