ABSTRACT

Object-oriented systems promote reuse of system code, but adequately supports management of the object graph from which reusable objects must ultimately be made. We describe an approach to object graph understanding, organization, and management through grouping objects into "object complexes" for a variety of purposes, foremost of which are object persistence and reuse. These reusable objects are large scale "pluggable" components which embody both state and behavior. We also describe the use of this approach in a large Smalltalk system which is being made into a product. Keywords: Deep Copy, Object Reuse, Object-Oriented Database, Persistent Objects, Megaprogramming