A Graph-based Semantics For Object-oriented Programming Constructs

This paper presents a graph-based formalism for object-oriented class structure specifications. The formalism combines labelled graphs with partial orders, to adequately model the (single) inheritance relation among objects and the overriding relation between methods within derived classes. The semantics of system extension by inheritance and aggregation is then defined as colimits in a suitable category of object-oriented system specifications and their morphisms.