Generic mechanisms to extend object-oriented programing languages ; The reverse inheritance class relationship

Abstract

Reverse inheritance is a potential class reusing mechanism having capabilities of creating abstact supertypes, factoring features from classes, redefining features, adapting features, adding an abstraction layer in a class hierarchy. This class relationship was not defined fully in the literature nor implemented in a programming language. To show that reverse inheritance is a feasible class relationship that helps class reusability, we defined its semantics for Eiffel by informal rules and we built a proof of a concept prototype. The semantics of reverse inheritance deals with feature signature exheritance, type exheritance, assertion exheritance, implementation exheritance, feature adaptations, feature clauses, genericity. The extended Eiffel language is modeled using Prolog facts, factbases corresponding to object-oriented systems. The semantics of the reverse inheritance concept is expressed through model transformations applied to the factbase. The factbase model is transformed using conditional transformations, which can detect transformation dependencies or can find a possible order for the transformation execution. Finally, the resulted model facts are translated automatically into pure Eiffel compilable code, in order to build the executable object-oriented system.