Type-safe delegation for run-time component adaptation

The aim of component technology is the replacement of large monolithic applications with sets of smaller software components, whose particular functionality and interoperation can be adapted to users' needs. However, the adaptation mechanisms of component software are still limited. Most proposals concentrate on adaptations that can be achieved either at compile time or at link time. Current support for dynamic component adaptation, i.e. unanticipated, incremental modifications of a component system at run-time, is not sufficient. This paper proposes object-based inheritance (also known as delegation) as a complement to purely forwarding-based object composition. It presents a type-safe integration of delegation into a class-based object model and shows how it overcomes the problems faced by forwarding-based component interaction, how it supports independent extensibility of components and unanticipated, dynamic component adaptation.