| Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is a programming paradigm that was defined at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the mid-1990s. The roots of this paradigm can be traced back to several works designed to improve code modularity and facilitate reuse and maintenance.
The benefits of AOP for modularizing code have drawn attention from many application developers, especially those in the domain of web applications. Indeed, AOP is an excellent complement to Internet-oriented application servers such as Sun Microsystems’s J2EE or Microsoft’s .NET. With AOP, developers can facilitate the development and boost the productivity of these types of applications. However, AOP is not limited to the domain of web-centric applications. Similar to other programming paradigms (such as objects), AOP is a general technique that can be applied to any kind of application.
This book defines and explains the concepts of AOP. The implementation of these concepts is illustrated by a presentation of four major existing AOP products (AspectJ, JAC, JBoss AOP, and Spring AOP). In addition, this book shows how you can use AOP for programming J2EE applications. |