In the paper a new programming construct, called concept, is introduced.
Concept is pair of two classes: a reference class and an object class.
Instances of the reference classes are passed-by-value and are intended to
represent objects. Instances of the object class are passed-by-reference. An
approach to programming where concepts are used instead of classes is called
concept-oriented programming (CoP). In CoP objects are represented and accessed
indirectly by means of references. The structure of concepts describes a
hierarchical space with a virtual address system. The paper describes this new
approach to programming including such mechanisms as reference resolution,
complex references, method interception, dual methods, life-cycle management
inheritance and polymorphism.Comment: 43 pages. Related papers: http://conceptoriented.com