Object-Orientation FAQ

COOL is a C++ class library developed at Texas Instruments.

Features are:
1. Rich set of containers like Vector, List, Hash_Table, Matrix, etc...
2. Hierarchy is shallow with no common base class, rather than deep like NIHCL.
3. Functionality close to Common Lisp data structures, like GNU libg++.
4. Template syntax very close to Cfront3.x, g++2.x.
5. Free, with good documentation, and extensive test cases.

Light version of COOL from General Electric:
1. Hairy macros, run-time type, exceptions removed for mainstream C++
   compatibility
2. Free of memory leaks and bound violations. Leaks and bounds are checked
   with Purify.
3. Has memory management and efficient copy in expressions like:
  Set c = a+b+c;
  Pointers are shared with Handle and Reference count. Deep copy in
  expressions are replaced by shallow copy.
4. Compatible with Cfront2.1, and is being converted to Cfront3.0. You can
  build both static and shared library on SunOS 4.1.x