Implementing references as chains of links

Abstract

The goal of this work is to provide uniform trans parent access to objects, be they local, remote, persis tent, or mobile. In this way, we facilitate distributed programming and persistence management.An object (the target) is accessed through a refer ence. A reference retains its meaning as it is copied, stored, passed in messages, and as the target migrates.A reference is used to invoke a procedure (or method) of the target object. References support standard single-space targets, as well as fragmented objects (9).The cost of using a reference to a local object is com parable to the cost of accessing the object through a pointer. In the implementation, a reference is a chain of links. Each link embodies a small piece of func tionality. A chain may be composed of an arbitrary number of Links.

Programming, Composing, Deploying for the Grid

“…The second one uses a fully decentralized technique known as forwarders [18]. When leaving a site, an active object leaves a special object called a forwarder which points to its new location.…”