Lightweight Parametric Polymorphism for Oberon

Strongly typed polymorphism is necessary for expressing safe reusable code. Two orthogonal forms of polymorphism exist: inclusion and parametric, the Oberon language only supports the former. We describe a simple extension to Oberon to support parametric polymorphism. The extension is in keeping with the Oberon language: it is simple and has an explicit cost. In the paper we motivate the need for parametric polymorphism and describe an implementation in terms of translating extended Oberon to standard Oberon.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1997
• Where: JMLC
• Authors: Paul Roe, Clemens A. Szyperski
• Keywords: JMLC 1997, Oberon, Oberon Language, Parametric Polymorphism, Programming Languages