XE: Bridging the Aspect-Oriented Programming Usability Gap

Students: Wiwat Ruengmee, UC Irvine/ISR, Roberto Silva Filho, UC Irvine/ISR, Sushil Bajracharya, UC Irvine/ISR

Advisors: David F. Redmiles, UC Irvine/ISR, Cristina Lopes, UC Irvine/ISR

Abstract:

In spite of the modularization benefits supported by the Aspect-Oriented programming paradigm, different usability issues have hindered its adoption. The decoupling between aspect definitions and base code, and the compile-time weaving mechanism adopted by different AOP languages, require developers to manage the consistency between base code and aspect code themselves. These mechanisms create opportunities for errors related to aspect weaving invisibility and non-local control characteristics of AOP languages. In short, AOP developers lack adequate support for: 1) visualizing and identifying the exact points in the code where aspects are woven; 2) preventing aspect-base code inconsistencies, and 3) evolving aspect-oriented code in a coherent way. In this poster, we present XE (Extreme Editor), an IDE that supports developers in managing these issues in the functional aspect-oriented programming domain.

Bio:

Wiwat Ruengmee is a graduate student of Informatics in the Department of Informatics of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at University of California, Irvine. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Military Institute in 1996. He got his Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University in 1998. Wiwat's research interests are in the domains of software development tools, programming environment, and aspect-oriented program comprehension.

Roberto Silva Filho is Ph.D. candidate in Software Engineering at the Department of Informatics of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at University of California, Irvine, and member of the Institute for Software Research. He holds a M.S. degree in Information and Computer Science from UC, Irvine and another one from the Institute of Computing at UNICAMP, University of Campinas, Brazil. His research interests crosscut the areas of distributed systems, middleware, software engineering and groupware.

Sushil Bajracharya is a Ph.D. candidate of Informatics in the Donald Bren School of ICS at UCI. He enjoys working with his advisor Cristina Lopes on interesting problems in designing languages, tools and software, and, contemplating the implications they have on software engineering at large. He actively collaborates with his co-conspirators in the mondego group to make research as much fun as possible. Sushil spent all his life in the exotic Kathmandu valley in Nepal before coming to UCI. In past, he has worked as a teacher, software developer and a hobbyist designer for music album covers. He holds an undergraduate degree in computer engineering from Kathmandu University and a MS degree in Informatics from UC Irvine. Besides his research he enjoys music, cooking and fine Belgium beers.