"ECO (Extender and Class Oriented) extends the object-oriented paradigm with
features that make easy handling graphs. Its purpose is to simplify the
description of systems managing complex combinatorial structures with
properties that change dynamically. Its main area of application is graph
managment, but ECO is not only related to graphs. An extension of C++ (we
call it ECO C++) and a precompiler for such extension makes ECO concepts
implementable and easy to use.
ECO based systems are more flexible and extensible than systems based on the
usual object-oriented paradigm.
Designing software with ECO is more natural and leads to better
understandable code. ECO C++ primitives do not introduce computational
overhead."