The Type Object Pattern

Bobby Woolf
Knowledge Systems Corp.
4001 Weston Pkwy
Cary, NC 27513-2303
919-677-1119 x541
bwoolf@ksccary.com

This submission is not a pattern language, but rather a standalone
pattern. It is written at the level and style of the patterns in
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software.

Type Object describes a technique for a class-based system to create
new "classes" dynamically at runtime without having to recompile. This
is possible because the new "classes" are not actually classes but are
instances of a special class called a Type Class. A Type Class is a class
that has a relationship to its Class such that its
instances--Type Objects--describe the Class' instances--Objects--the
way a class or type usually does. This pattern is also referred to as Power
Type, Reified Type, and Metaobject.