Implementing Bounded Aspect Quantification in AspectJ

The integration of aspects into the methodology of stepwise software development and evolution is still an open issue. This paper focuses on the global quantification mechanism of nowadays aspect-oriented languages that contradicts basic principles of this methodology. One potential solution to this problem is to bound the potentially global effects of aspects to a set of local development steps. We discuss several alternatives to implement such bounded aspect quantification in AspectJ. Afterwards, we describe a concrete approach that relies on meta-data and pointcut restructuring in order to control the quantification of aspects. Finally, we discuss open issues and further work.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: ECOOP
• Authors: Christian Kästner, Sven Apel, Gunter Saake
• Keywords: ECOOP 2006, Global Quantification Mechanism, Open Issues, Programming Languages, Quantification