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Aspect-Oriented ProgrammingComputer science has experienced an evolution in programming languages and systems from the crude assembly and machine codes of the earliest computers through concepts such as formula translation, procedural programming, structured programming, functional programming, logic programming, and programming with abstract data types. Each of these steps in programming technology has advanced our ability to achieve clear separation of concerns at the source code level. Currently, the dominant programming paradigm is object-oriented programming - the idea that one builds a software system by decomposing a problem into objects and then writing the code of those objects. Such objects abstract together behavior and data into a single conceptual and physical entity. Object-orientation is reflected in the entire spectrum of current software development methodologies and tools - we have OO methodologies, analysis and design tools, and OO programming languages. Writing complex applications such as graphical user interfaces, operating systems, and distributed applications while maintaining comprehensible source code has been made possible with OOP. Success at developing simpler systems leads to aspirations for greater complexity. Object orientation is a clever idea, but has certain limitations. We are now seeing that many requirements do not decompose neatly into behavior centered on a single locus. Object technology has difficulty localizing concerns invoking global constraints and pandemic behaviors, appropriately segregating concerns, and applying domain-specific knowledge. Post-object programming (POP) mechanisms that look to increase the expressiveness of the OO paradigm are a fertile arena for current research. Examples of POP technologies include domain-specific languages, generative programming, generic programming, constraint languages, reflection and metaprogramming, feature-oriented development, views/viewpoints, and asynchronous message brokering. (Czarneclu and Eisenecker s book includes a good survey of many of these technologies).
Document ID
20040142443
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Elrad, Tzilla
(Illinois Inst. of Tech. Chicago, IL, United States)
Filman, Robert E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Bader, Atef
(Lucent Technologies Chicago, IL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 2001
Publication Information
Publication: Communications of the ACM
Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery
Volume: 44
Issue: 10
ISSN: 0002-0782
Subject Category
Computer Programming And Software
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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