A Flexible Model for Crosscutting Metadata-Based Frameworks

Frameworks aims to provide a reusable functionality and structure to be used in distinct applications. Aspect-oriented frameworks address crosscutting concerns and provide ways to attach itself in the application in a transparent way. However, using aspects the variations in the behavior can only be customized by aspect inheritance, which can increase exponentially the number of aspects and difficult the pointcut management. This paper proposes a flexible model which combines techniques for the insertion of crosscutting functionality with the structure of a metadata-based framework. This model allows (a) the maintenance of the class obliviousness, (b) the independence of the crosscutting technology and (c) the framework customization by composition. Additionally, the paper presents SystemGlue, which is a crosscutting framework that implements the proposed concepts. A modularity analysis was performed in an application that uses this framework to evaluate if the objectives were achieved.