    """The abstract supertype of all types representing definite
       values. Any two values which are assignable to `Object`
       may be compared for value equality using the `==` and `!=`
       operators, even if the values are of different concrete
       type:

           true == false
           1 == "hello world"
           "hello"+" "+"world" == "hello world"
           Singleton("hello world") == ["hello world"]

       However, since [[Null]] is not a subtype of `Object`, the
       value [[null]] cannot be compared to any other value
       using the `==` operator. Thus, value equality is not
       defined for optional types. This neatly bypasses the
       problem of deciding the value of the expression
       `null==null`, which is simply illegal.

       A concrete subclass of `Object` must refine [[equals]]
       and [[hash]] (or inherit concrete refinements), providing
       a concrete definition of value equality for the class.

       In extreme cases it is acceptable for two values to be
       equal even when they are not instances of the same class.
       For example, the [[Integer]] value `1` and the [[Float]]
       value `1.0` are considered equal. Except in these extreme
       cases, instances of different classes are considered
       unequal."""
    see (`class Basic`, `class Null`)
    by ("Gavin")
    tagged("Basic types")
    shared abstract class Object()
            extends Anything() {

        "Determine if two values are equal.

         For any two non-null objects `x` and `y`, `x.equals(y)`
         may be written as:

             x == y

         Implementations should respect the constraints that:

         - if `x===y` then `x==y` (reflexivity),
         - if `x==y` then `y==x` (symmetry),
         - if `x==y` and `y==z` then `x==z` (transitivity).

         Furthermore it is recommended that implementations
         ensure that if `x==y` then `x` and `y` have the same
         concrete class.

         A class which explicitly refines `equals()` is said to
         support _value equality_, and the equality operator
         `==` is considered much more meaningful for such
         classes than for a class which simply inherits the
         default implementation of _identity equality_ from
         [[Identifiable]].

         Note that an implementation of `equals()` that always
         returns [[false]] does satisfy the constraints given
         above. Therefore, in very rare cases where there is no
         reasonable definition of value equality for a class,
         for example, [[function references|Callable]], it is
         acceptable for `equals()` to be defined to return
         `false` for every argument."
        shared formal Boolean equals(Object that);

        "The hash value of the value, which allows the value to
         be an element of a hash-based set or key of a
         hash-based map. Implementations must respect the
         constraint that:

         - if `x==y` then `x.hash==y.hash`.

         Therefore, a class which refines [[equals]] must also
         refine `hash`.

         In general, `hash` values vary between platforms and
         between executions of the same program.

         Note that when executing on a Java Virtual Machine, the
         64-bit [[Integer]] value returned by an implementation
         of `hash` is truncated to a 32-bit integer value by
         taking the exclusive disjunction of the 32 lowest-order
         bits with the 32 highest-order bits, before returning
         the value to the caller."
        see (`function identityHash`)
        shared formal Integer hash;

        "A developer-friendly string representing the instance.
         Concatenates the name of the concrete class of the
         instance with the `hash` of the instance. Subclasses
         are encouraged to refine this implementation to produce
         a more meaningful representation."
        shared default String string
                => className(this) + "@" +
                   formatInteger(hash, #10);

    }