The Art of the Metaobject Protocol

This book introduces the CLOS metaobject protocol, an elegant and high-performance extension to the Common Lisp Object System. The authors describe its evolution and design principles and present a formal specification of a metaobject protocol for CLOS. They also show how the protocol can be applied to programming language design that meets a broad set of design criteria, allowing users to adjust the language to better suit their needs while enhancing performance. With actual code and exercises included, readers can gain hands-on experience with the design process.