Improving Concurrency in Common Object Models

Abstract

Most common object models of distributed object systems lack features related to 'concurrency' (the ability to have more than one thread of execution in an object simultaneously). The lack of support for concurrency restricts the development of new components and limits reuse of existing components that use these advanced features. In this paper, the concurrency features of the Interoperable Common Object Model (ICOM) centered on statically typed object-oriented languages, is presented. The ICOM model is an attempt to elevate common object models (with the advanced features of concurrency) closer to the object models of statically typed object-oriented languages. Specific features of the ICOM object model include: atomic objects and guard methods. The actor model is used to develop a uniform implementation framework for the ICOM object model in C++ and Modula-3.