Denotational semantics of an object-oriented programming language with explicit wrappers

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Abstract
Object-oriented languages have traditionally been described by method-lookup-semantics. Their denotational semantics have appeared and matured only recently. Cook's wrapper semantics without state shows the essence of inheritance much clearer than method-lookup-semantics.In this article, we show how wrapper semantics can describe an object-oriented languagewith statewhile keeping its original clear structure. We then extend our object-oriented language by so calledexplicit wrappers. Wrappers that are used for the description of the semantics of an “ordinary” object-oriented language emerge from the semantics level and are included into the language itself. This unusual step is being justified by a greater reusability of code. With explicit wrappers and single inheritance, one variety of multiple inheritance can be expressed.

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