The art of the meta-aspect protocol

ABSTRACT

Alternative semantics for aspect-oriented abstractions can be defined by language designers using extensible aspect compiler frameworks. However, application developers are prevented from tailoring the language semantics in an application-specific manner. To address this problem, we propose an architecture for aspect-oriented languages with an explicit meta-interface to language semantics. We demonstrate the benefits of such an architecture by presenting several scenarios in which aspect-oriented programs use the meta-interface of the language to tailor its semantics to a particular application execution context.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.3 Language Constructs and Features
          Subjects: Classes and objects

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
        D.2.11 Software Architectures
            Subjects: Languages (e.g., description, interconnection, definition)
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.3 Language Constructs and Features
          Subjects: Frameworks

General Terms:
Design, Languages

Keywords:
aspect interactions, aspect-oriented programming, debugging, meta-object protocols, open implementation