Class Warfare: Classes vs. Prototypes

An examination of recent work on prototype-based architectures for object-oriented programming raises a number of interesting questions, the most obvious being: Are prototype-based object-oriented architectures superior to class-based architectures? Another way of addressing the same issues might be to ask: Are class-based architectures over-centralized, and excessively rigid? This work also raises the related question of whether dynamic, implicitly typed object-oriented architectures are preferable to static, explicitly typed architectures. Should To some extent, this question boils down to that of asking: the primary goal driving the design of an object-oriented architecture be maximal flexibility or maximal efficiency? Finally, by putting the general issue of what objectoriented architectures are the best on the table, this work would seem to make an examination of what role metalevel architectures and reflection might play in the design of object-oriented systems appropriate as well. Put simply, this question becomes: Are prototype-based architectures flexible enough?