OO-Motivated Process Algebra: A Calculus for CORBA-like Systems

This paper is a proposal for a new two-tier calculus, designed to model aspects of CORBA-like systems at the CORBA object level. The higher object level known as Oompa abstracts away from the details of distribution (e.g. location and mobility), whereas the lower level, known as Loompa provides primitives for specifying these details. We present the syntax, and operational semantics, as well as two examples, a local invocation, and a remote one, to illustrate the features of the calculi. In the paper we also seek to justify our design decisions, both as to the nature of the calculi, and the need to develop same. A key strength of our approach is to maintain a close match between the level of object abstraction in Oompa/Loompa, and that found in conventional OO programming languages for CORBA systems.