Transparent proxies for java futures

A proxy object is a surrogate or placeholder that controls access to another target object. Proxies can be used to support distributed programming, lazy or parallel evaluation, access control, and other simple forms of behavioral reflection. However, wrapper proxies (like futures or suspensions for yet-to-be-computed results) can require significant code changes to be used in statically-typed languages, while proxies more generally can inadvertently violate assumptions of transparency, resulting in subtle bugs. To solve these problems, we have designed and implemented a simple framework for proxy programming that employs a static analysis based on qualifier inference, but with additional novelties. Code for using wrapper proxies is automatically introduced via a classfile-to-classfile transformation, and potential violations of transparency are signaled to the programmer. We have formalized our analysis and proven it sound. Our framework has a variety of applications, including s...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: OOPSLA
• Authors: Polyvios Pratikakis, Jaime Spacco, Michael W. Hicks
• Keywords: OOPSLA 2004, Proxy Object, Significant Code Changes, Wrapper Proxies