Monthly Meetings

December 1, 2004: Aspect Oriented Programming

Downloads

• Todd's presentation on Aspect Oriented Programming
• Examples (zip file)

Abstract

Object oriented programming improved upon structured programming by encapsulating state into discrete objects. The elimination of global state, which was tangled throughout structured code, was one of the marked differences between good structured design and good object oriented design. However, programmers still face tangling behavioral issues such as logging, authentication, authorization, transaction control, and persistence. Even with object-oriented approaches, these secondary behaviors are tangled with the primary concerns of each class. Aspect-oriented programming promises to encapsulate these cross-cutting issues into distinct entities, and weave them across entire hierarchies of objects, thus increasing cohesion and decreasing coupling. This talk will introduce the terminology and concepts behind aspect-oriented programming and examine one implementation of aspects for the Java programming language: AspectJ.

Bio

Todd Whittaker currently serves as the Information Technology Program Chair at Franklin University. He has more than 14 years experience in computer related fields and has previously held positions as an associate professor at DeVry, software developer at Battelle Memorial Institute, and systems administrator at the University of Akron. Whittaker has extensive knowledge of object-oriented programming languages, design patterns, development processes, systems administration, and computer science education. When not writing about himself in the third person, he enjoys spending time with his wife and children, and leading a small Bible study.