Detecting Unjustified Assumptions in Subclasses via Elegant Objects Representation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to detect unjustified assumptions in decorator objects within Elegant Objects, a programming language based on pure objects, using method inlining and property inference, with a prototype in Scala.

Contribution

It formulates the problem of unjustified assumptions in EO decorators and proposes a detection approach, extending the analysis techniques to this language.

Findings

Detected unjustified assumptions in EO programs

Implemented prototype detection tool in Scala

Demonstrated effectiveness on sample EO programs

Abstract

Elegant Objects (EO) is a programming language based on ideas of pure objects and the Decorator pattern. Bugayenko has suggested it as an intermediate representation for object-oriented programs. This paper presents a version of dynamic dispatch modelled in EO and formulates a problem of unjustified assumptions in decorator objects, which parallels similar problem in subclasses. Then, we introduce an approach to detect such problems in EO programs via method inlining and limited property inference. Finally, we discuss prototype implementation of this approach in Scala programming language.