Distribution and inheritance in the HERON approach to heterogeneous computing

Abstract

HERON is a platform for object-oriented distributed computing in an open systems environment. We try to achieve a degree of distribution transparency previously known only from special distributed programming systems, while at the same time accommodating heterogeneous, autonomous computer systems. Distributed programs are written in Eiffel. The Eiffel language system is not modified: HERON employs proxies for remote object invocation and a flexible configuration procedure for building servers and distributed programs. In addition to regular objects, two kinds of distributed objects are supported by the proxy generator: dispersed objects and objects fragmented by remote inheritance. They contribute to distribution transparency both for distributed programs and for client/server systems.<>