Active objects made easy
Martin Carroll · Software Practice and Experience · 1998
A widely useful technique for implementing complex programs is to use multiple threads of execution. Unfortunately, when we multithread a program we introduce the potential for bugs caused by unprotected critical sections. A widely useful technique for reducing the number of critical sections, and hence the number of bugs, is that of active objects. This paper presents a design for active objects that is easy to understand, implement and use in any sufficiently powerful object-oriented programming language. We show the implementation and use of our design in both the JavaTM and C++ programming languages. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.