T6 : Enterprise Aspect-Oriented Programming with AspectJ

Date	Tuesday, March 15, 2005 morning (half day)
Presenters	Ron Bodkin, New Aspects of Software Nicholas Lesiecki, VMS
Level	Intermediate: Attendees should have experience writing Java code and doing object-oriented design in an enterprise environment, and have some previous exposure to aspect-oriented programming.

Abstract

Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) has continued to gain momentum in the area of enterprise development, with support announced by IBM, BEA, JBoss, Spring, Microsoft, and others. Behind the headlines, however, are critical questions:

• How real is AOP for the enterprise?
• What problems can it solve today?
• How does it apply to enterprise applications?
• How can prospective adopters make an informed decision about trying to use AOP?
• What is the best adoption strategy?
• What are the long term possibilities?
• What standards are emerging?

This tutorial provides answers to these questions and provides examples of using AspectJ for enterprise Java applications. The tutorial addresses a range of problems in enterprise Java development, such as publishing business events, security, mock objects for unit testing, error handling, implementing persistent relationships, and systems management. It addresses design and project organization issues as well as techniques such as integration with common frameworks and tools, setting up builds, load-time weaving, debugging, and directory configuration.

Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how AOP works, how it can be useful, and how to work effectively with AspectJ. Attendees will also learn AOP design patterns, best practices, and are in a good position to start applying the technology.

Biographies

Ron Bodkin is the founder of New Aspects of Software, which provides consulting and training on application development with an emphasis on aspect-oriented programming and security. Ron is also a member of AspectMentor, a consortium of AOP experts. Ron works with customers on creating high performance, robust application architectures and on adopting AOP. Ron speaks and gives tutorials frequently for customers and at conferences.

Nicholas Lesiecki is a recognized expert on AspectJ, the leading Java-based AOP product. In addition to coauthoring Mastering AspectJ (Wiley, 2003), he authors articles on AspectJ and Extreme Programming (XP) for IBM's DeveloperWorks web site. Nick is a frequent speaker at computer industry conferences (e.g., OOPSLA, No Fluff Just Stuff, Software Development) and is a member of AspectMentor, a consortium of experts in aspect-oriented software development. Nick is currently employed by VMS (http://vmsinfo.com/) as principal software engineer. In this role, he guides the adoption of AOP in a mission-critical, Java-based, enterprise application.