<s>
In	O
object-oriented	B-Language
programming	I-Language
,	O
object-oriented	B-Application
design	I-Application
and	O
object-oriented	B-Application
analysis	I-Application
,	O
the	O
identity	O
of	O
an	O
object	O
is	O
its	O
being	O
distinct	O
from	O
any	O
other	O
object	O
,	O
regardless	O
of	O
the	O
values	O
of	O
the	O
objects	O
 '	O
properties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
multiple	O
such	O
references	O
can	O
refer	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
object	O
,	O
if	O
some	O
form	O
of	O
address	O
mapping	O
is	O
present	O
(	O
virtual	B-Architecture
addresses	I-Architecture
/	O
page	B-General_Concept
tables	I-General_Concept
/	O
memory	B-General_Concept
segments	I-General_Concept
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
bignum	B-Algorithm
integers	O
may	O
be	O
heap-allocated	O
objects	O
such	O
that	O
two	O
bignums	B-Algorithm
are	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
same	O
if	O
they	O
represent	O
the	O
same	O
number	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
might	O
be	O
a	O
waste	O
of	O
machine	O
cycles	O
in	O
the	O
equality	O
function	O
not	O
to	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
discovery	O
that	O
the	O
two	O
arguments	O
being	O
compared	O
are	O
references	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
bignum	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
identity	O
is	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
polymorphism	B-Application
in	I-Application
object-oriented	I-Application
programming	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Identity	O
allows	O
the	O
construction	O
of	O
a	O
platonic	O
ideal	O
world	O
,	O
the	O
ontology	O
or	O
conceptual	O
model	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
often	O
used	O
as	O
basis	O
of	O
object-oriented	B-Language
thinking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
conceptual	O
model	O
describes	O
the	O
client	B-Protocol
side	O
view	O
to	O
a	O
domain	B-Architecture
,	O
terminology	O
or	O
an	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
