parent class

A class A is called parent class of a class B, if B is derived from A. In this case class B is called child class of class A.

polymorphism

Allows the binding of an object to a class at run-time (dynamic binding).

precompiler

In contrast to a compiler which produces executable code out of a source code, a precompiler produces a certain intermediate format. In our case a precompiler produces standard VHDL code out of Objective VHDL code.

protected types

Protected types are a mechanism to provide synchronized access to shared variables which had been proposed as an extension to VHDL'93.