Reference Objects

A reference object refers to a class that is implemented in such a way that all instances with the same value share properties. Thus changes to one instance of an object representing a user should also show up in another object representing the same user. Reference objects are mutable, in that their state can be changed without creating a new object.

Flourish includes a few different classes that are reference objects:

• fActiveRecord
• fDirectory
• fFile
• fImage

Here is another page with some info about reference objects:

• http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ReferenceObject

The opposite of a reference object is a value object.