RE: [stellation-res] Using AspectJ?

["Jonathan Gossage" <jgossage@xxxxxxxx>]

> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: stellation-res-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >[mailto:stellation-res-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Mark C.
> >Chu-Carroll
> >Sent: September 5, 2002 11:03 AM
> >To: stellation-res@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >Subject: [stellation-res] Using AspectJ?
> >
> >
> >A question to the group:
> >
> >I'm going to be sending out a preliminary description of the Stellation
> >ACL mechanism later today. I'll be starting to work on implementing
> >that, and completing the trigger mechanism as soon as I get the latest
> >bugs taken care of.
> >
> >The implementation of those things is really complicating the code
> >in the repository, because so many things are getting tangled
> >together. (Look at the LocalHandle implementation, with the X/realX
> >methods to see what I mean...) Using a tool like AspectJ
> >would make things like this much easier to write without creating
> >a mess of the code. (Using AspectJ, the X/realX would disappear,
> >and the trigger code would became a separate file contianing an aspect
> >implementing an "around" wrapper for the relevant methods.)
> >
> >So I'd like to know what people think about the idea of adding
> >AspectJ to our suite of tools.
> >
> >Some things to know about it:
> >- The AspectJ compiler is open-source, under the Mozilla license.
> >- There is an AspectJ task for ant, so command line builds
> >  will continue to work.
> >- There is an AspectJ plugin for Eclipse, so it will not interfere
> >  with our Eclipse use.
> >- There should be no execution-time performance penalty for using
> >  AspectJ.
> >
> >The main arguments against it:
> >- People will need to learn the basics of AspectJ to understand parts
> >  of our code.
> >- The setup process for working on Stellation becomes even more
> >  complicated, because you'll need to install AspectJ.
> >- AspectJ *can* make things significantly less complex; but it also
> >  has the effect of introducing additional "scatter" to the codebase.
> >  If it's not used with great care, it can create as many problems
> >  as it solves.
> >
> >What do you all think?
> >
> >	-Mark

I took a look at AspectJ a few weeks ago and was impressed by its'
potential. I agree that there will be a learning curve, both for us and for
anyone interested in the code base. I also agree that we need to evaluate
carefully where it can help and not just use it because it is a neat new
tool.

I am certainly in favour of trying it and seing how well it works out.

Regards

Jonathan

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