Methods as Parameters: A Pre-processing Approach in Java

In this paper we investigate the possibility of adding higher order functionalities to Java, that is passing methods as parameters to other methods. The approach is based on a mechanism which offers a restricted, disciplined, form of function abstraction but suitable to the integration of high order and object oriented pro- gramming. We discuss how the expressive power of the language is increased. A new syntax is introduced for formal and actual parameters, hence the paper shows an implementation of the extentions based on a preprocessing technique tha maps programs of the extended language into programs of ordinary Java.