Oracle America, Inc.

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Peter Von Der Ahe

Gilad Bracha

Joseph D Darcy

Martin Entlicher

Roman Ondruska

A debugging tool pauses or stops the execution of a computer program midway through the evaluation of a single line of source code that contains multiple expressions. A debugging tool pauses or stops the execution of a computer program after evaluating and executing one or more expressions within a particular line of source code, but before evaluating and executing one or more other expressions within that same particular line of source code. Thus, programmers can use such a debugging tool to debug a computer program at a level of granularity that is finer than source code line-level. Programmers can use such a debugging tool to debug a computer program, using breakpoints and/or stepping, at an expression-level of granularity.

Expression-level debugging without format changes

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a technique for allowing a first method to override a second method as long as specified criteria are satisfied, even if the types of the parameters of the first method differ from the types of the parameters of the second method, and even if the return type of the first method differs from the return type of the second method. As a result of the technique, older methods, which do not have generic return types and/or generically typed parameters, can continue to override methods that did not used to have generic return types and/or generically typed parameters, but now do.

Allowing non-generified methods to override generified methods

A technique in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention provides introspection support for anonymous and local classes. As a result of the technique, an enclosing class that defines a generic type variable that is not defined within a local or anonymous class that refers to the generic type variable can be determined. According to one embodiment of the invention, when a compiler determines that a particular class is a local or anonymous class, the compiler emits, into the particular class' binary class file, information that indicates which class encloses the particular class. In response to the invocation of a method (described herein) relative to a reflective proxy that corresponds to an enclosed class, information that identifies an enclosing class that encloses the enclosed class is returned. This is so even if the enclosed class is a local or anonymous class.

Growing community of inventors

Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Peter Von Der Ahe