Aspects and Modules Combined
Johan Ovlinger, Northeastern UniversityKarl Lieberherr, Northeastern University
David H. Lorenz, Northeastern University
Overly regular module interfaces in object-oriented languages hamper modularization of complex applications. Aspect-oriented programming tackles this problem by allowing module boundaries to span and partition classes in a flexible manner. However, not without a cost. In order to achieve this flexibility, common modularity mechanisms, such as encapsulation and external composition, are lost. The ability to separately compile or reason about a modular unit is also compromised. Combining aspects and modules restores these properties to the aspect-oriented programming language. In restoring the properties, the programming units---Aspectual Collaboration in our case---become more verbose: Encapsulation requires that all collaborations describe their interface to the rest of the application; and composition of collaborations similarly requires that each module's interface be reconciled with the other. We give a brief introduction to Aspectual Collaborations, however, the main part of the paper covers a comparison study of AspectJ, Hyper/J, and Aspectual Collaborations in solving an AOP programming challenge. We derive the comparative cost of using encapsulation.
Technical Report NU-CCS-02-03,
College of Computer Science, Northeastern University, December 2001.
This research was partially supported by
the National Science Foundation under
award number CCR-0098643.
NU-CCS-02-03.ps.gz (124k)
NU-CCS-02-03.pdf (316k)
NU-CCS-02-03.dvi (104k)
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/research/demeter/papers/ac-aspectj-hyperj
@TechReport{Lieberherr:2001:ACC,
Title = "Aspects and Modules Combined",
Author = "Johan Ovlinger and Karl Lieberherr and David~H. Lorenz",
Number = "{NU-CCS-02-03}",
Institution = "College of Computer Science, Northeastern University",
Address = "Boston, MA 02115",
Month = dec,
Year = 2001,
URL = "http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/lorenz/papers/reports/NU-CCS-02-03.html",
}