Distributed object interoperability via a network type system

Object-oriented programming techniques are increasingly gaining attention as a solution to some of the software engineering problems plaguing the construction of large software projects. Unfortunately, object-oriented interfaces are usually only enforced and usable through language mechanisms making it impossible for disjoint components to interact in a loosely coupled distributed environment. The authors' investigate the possibility of creating a runtime notion of an object's interface and allow the dynamic querying of objects for their conformance to that interface. The project provides a mechanism to dynamically generate proxies to objects in different protection domains so that once this conformance is confirmed, operations can be invoked on the object in a mechanism compatible with the programming language in question. This is done without violating the encapsulation and enforced interfaces provided by the distributed objects.<
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