Reflective layer activation in ContextL

ABSTRACT

Expressing layer dependencies in Context-oriented Programming is cumbersome because until now no facility has been introduced to control the activation and deactivation of layers. This paper presents a novel reflective interface that provides such control without compromising efficiency. This allows expressing complex application-defined dependencies between layers where the activation or deactivation of a layer requires the activation or deactivation of another one. The activation or deactivation of specific layers can also be prohibited based on application-defined conditions.

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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

Keywords:
context-oriented programming, dynamic layer activation, layer combination, software composition