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Everything about Metaobject

Object that manipulates, creates, describes, and implements other objects

In computer science, a metaobject is an object that manipulates, creates, describes, or implements objects. The object that the metaobject pertains to is called the base object. Some information that a metaobject might define includes the base object's type, interface, class, methods, attributes, parse tree, etc. Metaobjects are examples of the computer science concept of reflection, where a system has access to its own internal structure. Reflection enables a system to essentially rewrite itself on the fly, to alter its own implementation as it executes. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: MetaobjectA 5-minute orientation
  2. Pick up a classic book: The Interpretation of Object-Oriented Programming LanguagesThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  3. Read the landmark paper: A metaobject architecture for fault-tolerant distributed systems: the FRIENDS approachCited 78 times
  4. Go sideways: Common Lisp Object SystemA closely related topic
  5. Go sideways: Gregor KiczalesA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun Any entity that manipulates, creates, describes, or implements others

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Metaobject protocol

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics