Patent ID: 7367015

Claim:
A method of editing a software program in a common language runtime environment, the software program having a source code component, an intermediate language component, and a native code component, the method comprising: executing a first portion of the native code component; suspending execution of the native code component at a first point; allowing a user to edit the source code component to create an edited source code component; compiling the edited source code component using a source compiler to create an edited intermediate language component; compiling the edited intermediate language component using an intermediate language compiler to create an edited native code component; and executing the edited native code component beginning at the first point; wherein compiling the edited source code component using the source compiler, compiling the edited intermediate language component, and executing the edited native code component are done on an as-needed basis; wherein compiling the edited intermediate language component comprises extending a field table associated with the class to accommodate the new field to create an extended field table, wherein executing the edited native code component comprises employing the extended field table, and wherein extending the field table comprises adding the new field via a synchronization block associated with the object to create an extended object.