System and method for supporting a deferred reference to an object in an objected-oriented programming language environment

摘要

A system and method can support a deferred reference in an object-oriented programming language environment. The object-oriented programming language environment can include an interface that can provide a deferred reference to an object that will be available at a future time. Furthermore, after receiving a request from a caller to get the object based on the deferred reference, the interface can return the object to the caller when the object is available or can indicate to the caller when the object is not currently available and/or when the object will never become available.

主权项

1. A method for supporting a deferred reference in an object-oriented programming language environment operating on one or more microprocessors, comprising:
providing a deferred interface for calling an object that will be available at a future time; receiving a get request from a caller to get the object and the object class using the deferred interface; and in response to receiving said get request,
immediately returning to the caller a deferred reference to the object,informing the caller which class the object is associated with before the object becomes available,returning the object to the caller when the object is available, andindicating to the caller at least one of whether the object is not currently available and whether the object will never become available.