A middleware-transparent approach to developing distributed applications

An innovative middleware transparent approach to developing distributed applications is presented. The approach uses an aspect-oriented software development technique to separate an application’s middlewareindependent functionality from its middleware-specific functionality. Application elements that are specific to the middleware are localized in aspects that can be seamlessly integrated into middlewareindependent application designs. The middleware transparent approach is used to decouple business functionality from middleware-specific functionality. The decoupling allows developers to change middleware application elements without significantly modifying business functionality. Middleware technologies such as Java RMI, Jini, SOAP-RPC and .Net are used as examples to illustrate the approach.