Dominik Stein

Expressing different conceptual models of join point selections in aspect-oriented design

When specifying pointcuts, i.e. join point selections, in Aspect-Oriented Software Development, developers have in different situations different conceptual models in mind. Aspect-oriented programming languages are usually capable to support only a small subset of them, but not all. In order to communicate aspect-oriented design among developers, though, it is inevitable that the underlying conceptual model used in its join point selections remains unchanged. As a solution to this dilemma, we detail three different conceptual models in this paper that are frequently used in aspect-oriented applications. These models are illustrated using sample implementations from existing literature. Then, we introduce corresponding modeling notations based on Join Point Designation Diagrams (JPDDs) which are capable to express join point selections complying to those models. Finally, we discuss the suitability of these notations to express a desired join point selection.

Aspect-Oriented Model Weaving Beyond Model Composition and Model Transformation

Research in Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD) has brought up powerful abstractions in order to specify under which conditions an aspect affects the base software. So far, Model-Driven Development (MDD) approaches to AOSD have mostly concentrated on the weaving process and, as a result, they have come up with manifold ways to compose aspect models and base models. All too often, however, the approaches disregard the benefits that the aspect-oriented abstractions can bring to software development, though. This paper discusses the implications that such negligence has on the specification of aspect-oriented models in MDD. Furthermore, it presents a weaver that is able to cope with sophisticated join point selection abstractions, as they are known from many aspect-oriented programming languages, and which go far beyond the selection capabilities provided by current model weavers. By means of this weaver, models can realize both a higher separation of concerns as well as a higher level of abstraction.

On relationships between query models

Queries on software artifacts play an important role in novel software development approaches, such as Aspect-Oriented Software Development and OMG’s Model Driven Architecture. Keeping them separate from the modifications operating on them has proven to be beneficial with respect to their comprehensibility and their reusability. In this paper we describe what relationships can exist between such stand-alone queries. These relationships allow the combination of existing queries to form new ones, enabling developers to come up with abstractions for common selection patterns.

Designing Design Constraints in the UML Using Join Point Designation Diagrams

Design errors cause high costs during the development of software, since such errors are often detected quite late in the software development process. Hence, it is desirable to prevent design errors as early as possible, i.e. it is necessary to specify constraints on the software design. While there are a number of approaches available that permit to specify such constraints, a common problem of those is that the developers need to specify constraints in a different language than their design language. However, this reduces the acceptance of such approaches, as developers need a different language just for the purpose of specifying constraints. This paper proposes an approach that permits to specify constraints within the UML by using Join Point Designation Diagrams (JPDDs).

Comparison of a Visual and a Textual Notation to Express Data Constraints in Aspect-Oriented Join Point Selections: A Controlled Experiment

Many language constructs have been brought forth by research in aspect-oriented software development which permit a succinct and abstract specification of join point selections (aka pointcuts). These language constructs are believed to improve the comprehensibility of the point cuts in comparison to their manually implemented counterparts. The case of comprehensibility gets undecided, though, if two notations permit to specify join point selection constraints in a likewise succinct and abstract manner. This paper reports on a controlled experiment which compares two notations to specify point cuts, i.e. Trace matches and Join Point Designation Diagrams, with respect to their ability to facilitate the comprehension of data constraints in join point selections. Two comprehension tasks are investigated on a basis of 28 point cuts in a three-factorial within-subject design with 35 participants. The experiment results show that JPDDs improve over Trace matches in most cases.

Report of the 14th international workshop on aspect-oriented modeling

This report summarizes the outcome of the 14th Workshop on Aspect-Oriented Modeling (AOM), as part of the 12th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems – MoDELS 2009 – in Denver, Colorado, USA, on the 4th of October 2009. The workshop brought together researchers and practitioners from two communities: aspect-oriented software development (AOSD) and software model engineering. This paper gives an overview of the accepted submissions, and summarizes the results of the discussion.

State charts as an intermediate representation of JPDDs which help developers to map them to executable artifacts

Join Point Designation Diagrams (JPDDs) give developers the ability to model their join point selections in the UML, independent of any existing aspect-oriented programming language. In order to apply JPDDs in real software projects, it is necessary to have an executable representation of them -- either in terms of generated code for the desired aspect-oriented programming language or directly as executable diagrams in an environment that permits to execute UML diagrams. While principles for translating JPDDs into a target language are already known, it turns out that developers who follow those principles still face a large number of problems due to the complex selection semantics for dynamic join point: developers need to collect all data that is necessary to detect dynamic join points, and they need to maintain that data in appropriate data structures. In order to ease this step, it is desirable to translate JPDDs into an intermediate representation that equips the developers with a more concrete understanding about what information is needed, and when it needs to be stored or updated. This paper mainly addresses the motivation for such an intermediate representation and gives a first step into that direction -- the translation of JPDDs based on sequence diagrams into executable state charts.

9th international workshop on aspect-oriented modeling

This report summarizes the outcomes of the 9th Workshop on Aspect-Oriented Modeling (AOM) held in conjunction with the 9th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems - MoDELS 2006 - in Genoa, Italy, on the 1st of October 2006. The workshop brought together approximately 25 researchers and practitioners from two communities: aspect-oriented software development and software model engineering. It provided a forum for discussing the state of the art in modeling crosscutting concerns at different stages of the software development process: requirements elicitation and analysis, software architecture, detailed design, and mapping to aspect-oriented programming constructs. This paper gives an overview of the accepted submissions and summarizes the results of the different discussion groups. Papers and presentation slides of the workshop are available at http://www.aspect-modeling.org/.

Assessing the Power of a Visual Modeling Notation --- Preliminary Contemplations on Designing a Test ---

This paper reports on preliminary thoughts which have been conducted in designing an empirical experiment to assess the comprehensibility of a visual notation in comparison to a textual notation. The paper sketches shortly how a corresponding hypothesis could be developed. Furthermore, it presents several recommendations that aim at the reduction of confounding effects. It is believed that these recommendations are applicable to other experiments in the domain of MDE, too. Finally, the paper reports on initial experiences that have been made while formulating test questions.

Why Aspect-Oriented Software Development And Model-Driven Development Are Not The Same – A Position Paper –

Abstract Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD) and Model-Driven Development (MDD) are often said to be alike since both approaches are based on the selection of elements (i.e. join points in AOSD and model elements in MDD) and their subsequent adaptation (i.e. weaving in AOSD and transformation in MDD). But does this mean that AOSD and MDD are in fact two words for pretty much the same thing? In this position paper, we argue that there are essential differences between the aspect-oriented and the model-driven approach.