A protoype-based approach to object evolution.

Abstract

We investigate, in the context of functional prototype-based languages, a calculus of objects which might extend themselves upon receiving a message, a capability referred to by Cardelli as a self-inflicted operation. We present a sound type system for this calculus which guarantees that evaluating a well-typed expression will never yield a message-not-found runtime error. The resulting calculus is an attempt towards the definition of a language combining the safety advantage of static type checking with the flexibility found in dynamically typed languages.

Formalizing $φ$-calculus: a purely object-oriented calculus of decorated objects

“…Wand has proposed a type system with row types and row polymorphism to facilitate type inference in object-oriented languages, modelled by -calculus with records [27]. In [12] Ciaffaglione et al have introduced O ⊕ system based on -calculus, with objects that can modify their interface upon receiving a message. The calculus is intended to model object evolution in prototype-based languages such as JavaScript.…”

“…When modelling object-oriented languages some formalizations focus on statically typed classbased languages [2,23,27] while others prefer prototype-based approach [12].…”