Aspects as Specialization Units for Framework-based SPLs

A popular technique to implement software product-lines is through object-oriented application frameworks. A major problem with application frameworks is the unstructured, cross-cutting character of their specialization interfaces, and the weak connections between the specialization goals of the application developer and the different parts of the specialization interface. In this position paper, we propose an approach for supporting the specialization of object-oriented frameworks, consisting in representing the variability and the specializations using aspects. In addition to the framework classes, abstract aspects are provided as framework hot spots. Specialization units are implemented by concrete aspects which extend those hot spots. The proposed method can be used to create a modular specialization interface for an existing object-oriented framework in a non-intrusive way. An illustrative example is presented and the potential advantages of the proposed approach are discussed.