An aspect-oriented weaving mechanism based on component and connector architecture

Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) separates crosscutting concerns from primary concerns. These concerns are woven together by a weaver. Although AOP provides an effective module mechanism, it is not necessarily easy for a programmer to understand the overall behavior of a woven program. To deal with this problem, we propose a new kind of information hiding mechanism called a weaving-interface that encapsulates weaving in class-based AOP in which all kinds of concerns are described according to classes. Weaving-interfaces are completely separated from concerns described in terms of classes. A programmer who designs how to compose concerns does not have to know the details of class definitions, but has only to be aware of weaving-interfaces. A programmer who designs each concern does not have to know how the concern is composed, but has only to be aware of weaving-interfaces. Adopting the weaving-interface mechanism, AO weaving can be realized by the component-and-connector software architecture. This weaving-interface mechanism is effective for software modularity, evolution, and reuse