Simple user-defined meta-level to manipulate types of instances as object.

Unfortunately, since the meta-objects are user-defined they are provided without any pre-defined information or behavior. For the same reasons, the Nit OO mechanisms do not rely on this user-defined meta-level.

However meta permits the definition of user-defined meta-classes at any level of meta, even with user-defined meta-loops.

Meta-classes

Meta-classes can be defined easily in 3 steps:

• define a root for the class hierarchy (eg XObject)
• define a meta-class (eq XClass[E: XObject] super Class[E])
• redefine CLASS and class_factory in the root

class XObject
   redef CLASS: XClass[SELF]
   redef class_factory(name) do return new XClass[SELF](name)
end
class XClass[E: XObject] super Class[E] end

var x1 = new XObject
var x2 = new XObject
assert x1.get_class == x2.get_class
assert x1.get_class isa XClass[XObject]
assert x1.get_class.get_class isa Class[XClass[XObject]]

Limitation

Currently works only with the interpreter nit and the compiler with --erasure (without --rta).

--rta will try to detect all the runtime types, and will infinitely discover Class[Class[Class[....]]]. Unfortunately, --separate and --global require --rta.

Moreover, the interpreter and --erasure have a different behavior with generics since with --erasure a single meta-instance is shared for all type variations of a same generic class.

Class names are used as a primary key to identify classes. But name conflicts are not managed and will make the program crashes at runtime (on some cast error)