Mixin-based Inheritance

The diverse inheritance mechanisms provided by Smalltalk, Beta, and CLOS are interpreted as different uses of a single underlying construct. Smalltalk and Beta differ primarily in the direction of class hierarchy growth. These inheritance mechanisms are subsumed in a new inheritance model based on composition of mixabstract subclasses. This form of inheritance can also encode a CLOS multiple-inheritance hierarchy, although changes to the encoded hierarchy that would violate encapsulation are difficult. Practical application of mixin-based inheritance is illustrated in a sketch of an extension to Modula-3.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1990
• Where: OOPSLA
• Authors: Gilad Bracha, William R. Cook
• Keywords: Class Hierarchy Growth, Diverse Inheritance Mechanisms, Inheritance Mechanisms, OOPSLA 1990, Security Privacy