It sounds like you're using "object" and "not an object" in the same way I would use "entity" and "value". I think this is Java terminology that gets used in C#

It sounds like you're using "object" and "not an object" in the same way I would use "entity" and "value". I think this is Java terminology that gets used in C# sometimes too, I'm mostly thinking about NHibernate. A value like 42 is fixed throughout time, it is always 42, and any 42 is indistinguishable from any other 42. An entity on the other hand has an identity over time, so John Smith is always John Smith, even if he gets married and changes his name to John Brown. Obviously it is confusing having different groups using the same words with different meanings, but that's just the way language works.