MANAGING INVERSE REFERENCES BETWEEN OBJECTS IN OBJECT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE

Managing inverse references across binary relationships. This functionality may be accomplished by using a base class with functionality for linking objects from both sides of a binary relationship. In particular, some embodiments implement a generalized inverse management capability. In some embodiments, by using a common base class for objects involved in one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships, and by defining a field of one generic type when referring to at most one object, and by defining a field of another generic type when referring to many objects, automatic inverse management is obtained. Further, a specialization of the generic type of field used to refer to at most one object is used in cases of dependent relationships such that deletion of the reference without replacing it results in automatic disconnection of an object across all relationships.