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A Programmer’s Reduction Semantics for Classes and Mixins

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Formal Syntax and Semantics of Java

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1523))

Abstract

While class-based object-oriented programming languages provide a flexible mechanism for re-using and managing related pieces of code, they typically lack linguistic facilities for specifying a uniform extension of many classes with one set of fields and methods. As a result, programmers are unable to express certain abstractions over classes. In this paper we develop a model of class-to-class functions that we refer to as mixins. A mixin function maps a class to an extended class by adding or overriding fields and methods. Programming with mixins is similar to programming with single inheritance classes, but mixins more directly encourage programming to interfaces. The paper develops these ideas within the context of Java. The results are

  1. 1.

    an intuitive model of an essential Java subset;

  2. 2.

    an extension that explains and models mixins; and

  3. 3.

    type soundness theorems for these languages.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rice University, USA

    Matthew Flatt, Shriram Krishnamurthi & Matthias Felleisen

Authors
  1. Matthew Flatt
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  2. Shriram Krishnamurthi
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  3. Matthias Felleisen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Secure and Dependable Software, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-1010, USA

    Jim Alves-Foss

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Flatt, M., Krishnamurthi, S., Felleisen, M. (1999). A Programmer’s Reduction Semantics for Classes and Mixins. In: Alves-Foss, J. (eds) Formal Syntax and Semantics of Java. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1523. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48737-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48737-9_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-66158-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48737-1

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