METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DECLARATIVE PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES IN AN OBJECT ORIENTED ENVIRONMENT

An object oriented software environment permits, through declarative programming techniques, customization of functionality of an object. The object oriented software environment includes a plurality of objects, wherein each object contains at least one method. A user of the object oriented software environment submits one or more declarative statements to augment the functionality of a method on an object. In response, the object oriented software environment associates the declarative statements to the method identified on the object such that when the method on the object is called, the declarative statements, associated with the object, are executed in addition to the methods on the object. The declarative programming technique permits augmenting the functionality of a method on an object with "rules." In addition, two or more methods may be associated together to generate an event that propagates from one method to another method. The programming techniques disclosed also permit integration of declarative, compiled and scripting approaches to integrate three styles of applications program development.