Workflow enactment with continuation and future objects

ABSTRACT

An increasing number of software developers are turning to workflow to separate the logic and the control aspects in their applications, thus making them more amenable to change. However, in spite of recent efforts to standardize and provide reusable workflow components, many developers build their own. This is a challenging endeavor and involves solving problems which seem incompatible with the object paradigm and current object-oriented programming languages. In the context of an object-oriented workflow framework, this paper demonstrates a novel approach that resolves this impedance mismatch with techniques drawn from programming language theory. This successful cross-pollination narrows the gap between the results of decades of research in programming languages and developers working hard to cope with change.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.1 PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES
      D.1.5 Object-oriented Programming

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.3 Language Constructs and Features
          Subjects: Frameworks; Classes and objects

General Terms:
Design, Languages

Keywords:
continuations, future objects, micro-workflow, trampolined style, workflow