Object REXX

Open Object REXX (ooRexx)

Paradigm	Multi-paradigm: object-oriented (class-based), procedural (imperative), structured
Designed by	Simon C. Nash (IBM)
First appeared	1988; 37 years ago (1988)
Stable release	5.0.0 / 10 May 2023; 20 months ago (10 May 2023)
Preview release	5.1.0
Typing discipline	dynamic
Memory management	Garbage collection
Implementation language	C++
Platform	IA-32, x86-64, ARM, s390x
OS	Cross-platform: Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Solaris, OpenIndiana, AIX, FreeBSD, OS/2
License	CPL 1.0, GPLv2
Filename extensions	.rxs, .rex, .rexx, .cls, .orx, .rexg, .rexp
Website	www.rexxla.org
Major implementations
Object REXX (until 2004) ooRexx (since 2005)
Influenced by
Rexx, Smalltalk
Influenced
NetRexx

Object REXX is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, object-oriented (class-based) programming language. Today it is generally referred to as ooRexx (short for “Open Object Rexx”), which is the maintained and direct open-source successor to Object REXX.

It is a follow-on and a significant extension of the Rexx programming language (often called "Classic Rexx"), retaining all the features and syntax while adding full object-oriented programming (OOP) capabilities and other new enhancements. Following its Classic Rexx influence, ooRexx is designed to be easy to learn, use, and maintain. It is essentially compliant with the "Information Technology – Programming Language REXX" ANSI X3.274-1996^[1] standard and therefore ensures cross-platform interoperability with other compliant Rexx implementations. Therefore, Classic Rexx programs typically run under ooRexx without any changes.

There is also Rexx Object Oriented (“roo!”), which was originally developed by Kilowatt Software and is an unmaintained object-oriented implementation of Classic Rexx.^[2]