Article

Type-Based Object Immutability with Flexible Initialization

Authors:

Christian Haack,

Erik PollAuthors Info & Claims

Genoa: Proceedings of the 23rd European Conference on ECOOP 2009 --- Object-Oriented Programming

Pages 520 - 545

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03013-0_24

Published: 30 July 2009 Publication History

Abstract

We present a type system for checking object immutability, read-only references, and class immutability in an open or closed world. To allow object initialization outside object constructors (which is often needed in practice), immutable objects are initialized in lexically scoped regions. The system is simple and direct; its only type qualifiers specify immutability properties. No auxiliary annotations, e.g., ownership types, are needed, yet good support for deep immutability is provided. To express object confinement, as required for class immutability in an open world, we use qualifier polymorphism. The system has two versions: one with explicit specification commands that delimit the object initialization phase, and one where such commands are implicit and inferred. In the latter version, all annotations are compatible with Java's extended annotation syntax, as proposed in JSR 308.

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Cited By

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Published In

cover image Guide Proceedings

Genoa: Proceedings of the 23rd European Conference on ECOOP 2009 --- Object-Oriented Programming

July 2009

629 pages

ISBN:9783642030123

Editor:
Sophia Drossopoulou
Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK SW7 2AZ

Publisher

Springer-Verlag

Berlin, Heidelberg

Publication History

Published: 30 July 2009

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Cited By

Kabir ILi YLhoták O(2020)ιDOT: a DOT calculus with object initializationProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/34282764:OOPSLA(1-28)Online publication date: 13-Nov-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3428276
Spanò ACortesi AZausa G(2019)Type-Driven Cross-Programming for Android and LEGO Mindstorms InteroperabilityComputer Information Systems and Industrial Management10.1007/978-3-030-28957-7_17(191-209)Online publication date: 19-Sep-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-030-28957-7_17
Coblenz MAldrich JMyers BSunshine JBoix EGabriel R(2018)Interdisciplinary programming language designProceedings of the 2018 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and Software10.1145/3276954.3276965(133-146)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3276954.3276965
Etzel TVisser E(2016)Flexible initialization of immutable objectsCompanion Proceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Systems, Programming, Languages and Applications: Software for Humanity10.1145/2984043.2998541(53-54)Online publication date: 20-Oct-2016
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Vekris PCosman BJhala R(2016)Refinement types for TypeScriptACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/2980983.290811051:6(310-325)Online publication date: 2-Jun-2016
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Milanova ADong YZheng YBinder WTůma P(2016)Inference and Checking of Object ImmutabilityProceedings of the 13th International Conference on Principles and Practices of Programming on the Java Platform: Virtual Machines, Languages, and Tools10.1145/2972206.2972208(1-12)Online publication date: 29-Aug-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2972206.2972208
Vekris PCosman BJhala RKrintz CBerger E(2016)Refinement types for TypeScriptProceedings of the 37th ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation10.1145/2908080.2908110(310-325)Online publication date: 2-Jun-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2908080.2908110
Coblenz MSunshine JAldrich JMyers BWeber SShull FDillon LVisser WWilliams L(2016)Exploring language support for immutabilityProceedings of the 38th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/2884781.2884798(736-747)Online publication date: 14-May-2016
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Potanin AÖstlund JZibin YErnst M(2013)ImmutabilityAliasing in Object-Oriented Programming10.5555/2554511.2554525(233-269)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2013
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Servetto MMackay JPotanin ANoble J(2013)The billion-dollar fixProceedings of the 27th European conference on Object-Oriented Programming10.1007/978-3-642-39038-8_9(205-229)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2013
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