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From Dalang to Kava - the Evolution of a Reflective Java Extension

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Book cover Meta-Level Architectures and Reflection (Reflection 1999)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1616))

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Abstract

Current implementations of reflective Java extensions typically either require access to source code, or require a modified Java platform. This makes them unsuitable for applying reflection to Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) systems. In order to address this we developed a prototype Java extension Dalang based on class wrapping that worked with compiled code, and was implemented using a standard Java platform. In this paper we evaluate the class wrapper approach, and discuss issues that relate to the transparent application of reflection to COTS systems. This has informed our design of a new version of Dalang called Kava that implements a metaobject protocol through the application of standard byte code transformations. Kava leverages the capabilities of byte code transformation toolkits whilst presenting a high-level abstraction for specifying behavioural changes to Java components.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU

    Ian Welch & Robert Stroud

Authors
  1. Ian Welch
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  2. Robert Stroud
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, La Chantrerie, 4, rue Alfred Kastler, BP 20722, F-44307, Nantes Cedex 03, France

    Pierre Cointe

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Welch, I., Stroud, R. (1999). From Dalang to Kava - the Evolution of a Reflective Java Extension. In: Cointe, P. (eds) Meta-Level Architectures and Reflection. Reflection 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1616. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48443-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48443-4_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-66280-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48443-1

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