A form-based meta-model for software composition

In this article, we will present a generic meta-level framework for modeling both object- and component-oriented programming abstractions. In this framework, various features, which are typically merged in traditional object-oriented programming languages, are all replaced by a single concept: the composition of forms. Forms are first-class, immutable, extensible records that allow for the specification of compositional abstractions in a language-neutral and robust way. Thus, using the meta-level framework, we can define a compositional model that provides the means both to bridge between different object models and to incorporate existing software artifacts into a unified composition system.