Wholesale replacement of specialized classes in a runtime environments

• US 9,483,242 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2015
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Goetz, Brian, Rose, John R., Govereau, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Khatri, Anil
• Application Number:
  US14/692,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20150301809A1
• Time in Patent Office: 560 Days
• Field of Search: 717140-143, 717150-155
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/24 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/315 Object-oriented languages
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/41 Compilation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/437 Type checking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/443 Optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/447 Target code generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/70 Software maintenance or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/76 Adapting program code to run in a different environment; Porting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44521 Dynamic linking or loading; Link editing at or after load time, e.g. Java class loading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4488 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/449 Object-oriented method invocation or resolution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4492 Inheritance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4498 Finite state machines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45516 Runtime code conversion or optimisation

Abstract

Wholesale replacement of specialized classes may involve the ability to replace the auto specialization of a generic class may not be used at all and instead, a completely different, hand-written, class when the class is specialized for particular type parameterizations, according to some embodiments. The replacement class may have the same interface as the generic or auto specialized version, but it may have a completely different representation and/or implementation. A runtime environment may load the alternate version of the class, based on information identifying the alternate version, whenever the particular specialization is instantiated. The runtime may not have to load the generic or auto specialized version of the class when using the alternate version of the class.

Claims

1. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that when executed on a computing device cause the computing device to perform:

specializing a generic class for a particular type parameterization of a plurality of type parameterizations, wherein the generic class is based on a generic class declaration, wherein the generic class is specializable over the plurality of type parameterizations;

wherein to specialize the generic class for the particular type parameterization, the program instructions further cause the computing device to perform;

loading a class corresponding to a refinement class declaration for the generic class declaration, wherein the refinement class declaration is specific to the particular type parameterization, wherein the refinement class declaration comprises an alternate implementation for the generic class when the generic class is specialized for the particular type parameterization; and

wherein the generic class is specializable for others of the plurality of type parameterizations without loading the class corresponding to the refinement class declaration.

2. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to perform said loading the class corresponding to the refinement class declaration without loading a class corresponding to the generic class declaration.

3. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to perform:

loading a class file representing the generic class declaration and the refinement class declaration.

4. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the class file comprises information indicating that the refinement class declaration corresponds to a particular specialization of the generic class declaration for the particular type parameterization.

5. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to perform said specializing in response to a request to create an object based on the generic class for the particular type parameterization.

6. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to perform identifying the refinement class declaration based on information indicating that the refinement class declaration corresponds to a particular specialization of the generic class declaration for the particular type parameterization, wherein said loading the class corresponding to a refinement class declaration is performed in response to said identifying.

7. A method, comprising:

performing, by one or more computers;

specializing, by a platform independent, object oriented runtime environment implemented on one or more computing devices, a generic class for a particular type parameterization of a plurality of type parameterizations, wherein the generic class is based on a generic class declaration, wherein the generic class is specializable over the plurality of type parameterizations;

wherein said specializing comprises;

loading, by the platform independent, object oriented runtime environment, a class corresponding to a refinement class declaration for the generic class declaration, wherein the refinement class declaration is specific to the particular type parameterization, wherein the refinement class declaration comprises an alternate implementation for the generic class when the generic class is specialized for the particular type parameterization; and

wherein the generic class is specializable for others of the plurality of type parameterizations without loading the class corresponding to the refinement class declaration.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising loading the class corresponding to the refinement class declaration without loading a class corresponding to the generic class declaration.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising loading, by the platform independent, object oriented runtime environment, a class file representing the generic class declaration and the refinement class declaration.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the class file comprises information indicating that the refinement class declaration corresponds to a particular specialization of the generic class declaration for the particular type parameterization.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

generating, by a compiler implemented on the one or more computing devices, the class file based at least in part of source code comprising the generic class declaration and the refinement class declaration.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising performing said specializing in response to a request to create an object based on the generic class for the particular type parameterization.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying, by the platform independent, object oriented runtime environment, the refinement class declaration based on information indicating that the refinement class declaration corresponds to a particular specialization of the generic class declaration for the particular type parameterization, wherein said loading the class corresponding to a refinement class declaration is performed in response to said identifying.

14. A computing device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising program instructions, that when executed on the processor cause the processor to;

specialize a generic class for a particular type parameterization of a plurality of type parameterizations, wherein the generic class is based on a generic class declaration, wherein the generic class is specializable over the plurality of type parameterizations;

wherein to specialize the generic class for the particular type parameterization, the program instructions further cause the processor to;

load a class corresponding to a refinement class declaration for the generic class declaration, wherein the refinement class declaration is specific to the particular type parameterization, wherein the refinement class declaration comprises an alternate implementation for the generic class when the generic class is specialized for the particular type parameterization; and

wherein the generic class is specializable for others of the plurality of type parameterizations without loading the class corresponding to the refinement class declaration.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the program instructions further cause the processor to perform said loading the class corresponding to the refinement class declaration without loading a class corresponding to the generic class declaration.

16. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the program instructions further cause the processor to:

load a class file representing the generic class declaration and the refinement class declaration.

17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the class file comprises information indicating that the refinement class declaration corresponds to a particular specialization of the generic class declaration for the particular type parameterization.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the program instructions further cause the processor to:

generate the class file based at least in part of source code comprising the generic class declaration and the refinement class declaration.

19. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to perform said specializing in response to a request to create an object based on the generic class for the particular type parameterization.

20. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the program instructions further cause the processor to:

identify the refinement class declaration based on information indicating that the refinement class declaration corresponds to a particular specialization of the generic class declaration for the particular type parameterization; and

perform said loading the class corresponding to a refinement class declaration in response to identifying the refinement class declaration.