XE: Support for Aspects Using a Generative Programming Environment

Students: Wiwat Ruengmee, UC Irvine/ISR, Sushil Krishna Bajracharya, UC Irvine/ISR

Advisor: Cristina Videira Lopes, UC Irvine/ISR

Abstract: In this poster, we present XE as a programming environment to illustrate a generative programming model for "aspects of programs." Aspects of the software system are captured by active queries that we call 'adbma' — meta-level editing functions that encapsulate advice on base-level code identified by a query. At edit-time, the developer can define these aspects, and weave and unweave them with a mouse-click. The developer can also choose whether to include the aspects-as-modules in the final system or to weave them away. This model of aspects and corresponding generative programming environment provides a tool-based solution for one of the perceived disadvantages of AOP: the fact that aspect modularization, while fixing some tangling problems, introduce non-local control that can be very hard to understand and manage.

Bio:

Wiwat Ruengmee:

Wiwat Ruengmee is a graduate student in the Department 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 tool, program environment, and aspect-oriented programming.

Sushil Bajracharya

Sushil Bajracharya is a graduate student 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.