Aspects and/versus modularity the grand debate

ABSTRACT

Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) and Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD) endeavor to aid programmers in the separation of concerns, specifically crosscutting concerns, as an advance in modularization. AOP does so using primarily language changes, while AOSD uses a combination of language, environment, and methodology. But the concepts of obliviousness-not universally accepted as part of AOP-and parameterization appear to contradict the well-established principles of modularity and encapsulation that David Parnas and other greats of the past laid out and on which software engineering has depended for the last 40 years. Are we moving forward with better understandings of software engineering, modularity, and design/development principles, or are we losing our way? This debate is the postscript to Friedrich Steinmann's OOPSLA Essay, "The Paradoxical Success of Aspect-Oriented Programming.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: Modules and interfaces

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications
          Subjects: Multiparadigm languages
      D.3.3 Language Constructs and Features
          Subjects: Control structures; Procedures, functions, and subroutines; Modules, packages

General Terms:
Design, Languages

Keywords:
aspect-oriented programming, aspect-oriented software development, independent development, modularization, program structure, readability, separation of concerns, software engineering