This paper describes the Gaggle, a mechanism for grouping and naming objects in an object-oriented distributed system. Using Gaggles, client objects can access distributed replicated services without regard for the number of objects that provide the service. Gaggles are not themselves a replication mechanism; instead they enable programmers to construct their own replicated distributed services in whatever way is appropriate for the application at hand, and then to encapsulate the result. From

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... he point of view of a client, a Gaggle can be named and invoked exactly like an object. However, Gaggles can be used to represent individual objects, several ordinary objects, or even several other Gaggles. In this way they encapsulate plurality. If a Gaggle is used as an invokee, one of the objects that it represents is chosen (non-deterministically) to receive the invocation.