Interoperation of object-oriented applications

Abstract One of the important advantages of the object-oriented design and development methodology is the ability to reuse existing software modules. However the introduction of many programming languages with different syntax, semantics and/or paradigms has created the need for a consistent inter-language interoperability support framework. We present a brief overview of the most characteristic interoperability support methods and frameworks allowing the access and reuse of objects from different programming environments and focus on the interface bridging object-oriented interoperability support approach. 3.1 Reusing Objects from Different Environments One of the problems that people face when travelling from one country to another concerns the operation of electric appliances, like electric razors and coffee machines. A person living in Switzerland, for example, travelling to Germany will not be able to “plug in” and use his coffee machine as he is used in doing when back home. The reason is simply that the “interfaces ” for connecting to the electricity distribution network, that is the plug of the appliance and the wall socket, are different. Our traveller will need to employ a small inexpensive adaptor in order to bridge the differences of the “interfaces”. But things are not always that simple. If the same person is travelling to North America he will discover that not only is his (Swiss) plug different from the (North American) wall socket, but also that the electricity voltage differs. Fortunately also in this case a simple solution exists: the use of a transformer that will convert the North American voltage (110 V) to the Swiss standard (220 V).