On the semantic diversity of delegation-based programming languages

This paper proposes a rational reconstruction of delegation-based programming languages that identifies programming models going beyond traditional prototypes, and introduces a new classification of delegating-based languages, which clarifies these models, and discusses their relative merits.

Abstract

The prototype-based programming model has always been difficult to characterize precisely. Its basic principle advocates concrete objects as the only mean to model concepts, yet current languages promote methodologies reintroducing abstract constructions to manage efficiently groups of similar objects. In this paper, we propose a rational reconstruction of delegation-based programming languages that identifies programming models going beyond traditional prototypes. We also introduce a new classification of delegation-based languages, which clarifies these models, and we discuss their relative merits. We finally bring to the fore the existence of more and more structured delegation-based languages forming a continuum between pure prototype-based languages and class-based ones.