An AOP Layer to Abstract Programming with Distributed Components

Component models such as EJB or CCM are increasingly used to create complex and distributed systems and applications. Unless the details of the API and mechanisms used for programming with these models differ, the general features provided by the models share many characteristics. In this paper, we propose to capture these features in a common layer that can be used to develop model independent component programs. The layer is then mapped either onto EJB or CCM. This layer is defined with the AspectJ aspect-oriented programming language. We report on two sample applications that were developed with this layer: an application-level load balancing service and a contract enforcement service.