In aspect-oriented

Aspect-oriented programming

In computing, aspect-oriented programming is a programming paradigm which aims to increase modularity by allowing the separation of cross-cutting concerns...

 computer programming

Computer programming

Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...

, a pointcut is a set of join point

Join point

In computer science, a join point is a point in the control flow of a program. In aspect-oriented programming a set of join points is described as a pointcut...

s. Whenever the program

Computer program

A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...

 execution reaches one of the join points described in the pointcut, a piece of code

Code

A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another form or representation , not necessarily of the same type....

 associated with the pointcut (called advice

Advice in aspect-oriented programming

In aspect and functional programming, advice describes a class of functions which modify other functions when the latter are run; it is a certain function, method or procedure that is to be applied at a given join point of a program....

) is executed. This allows a programmer to describe where and when additional code should be executed in addition to an already defined behavior. This permits the addition of aspect

Aspect (computer science)

In computer science, an aspect of a program is a feature linked to many other parts of the program, but which is not related to the program's primary function. An aspect crosscuts the program's core concerns, therefore violating its separation of concerns that tries to encapsulate unrelated functions...

s to existing software, or the design

Design

Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

 of software with a clear separation of concerns

Separation of concerns

In computer science, separation of concerns is the process of separating a computer program into distinct features that overlap in functionality as little as possible. A concern is any piece of interest or focus in a program. Typically, concerns are synonymous with features or behaviors...

, wherein the programmer weaves

Aspect weaver

An aspect weaver is a metaprogramming utility for aspect-oriented languages designed to take instructions specified by aspects and generate the final implementation code. The weaver integrates aspects into the locations specified by the software as a pre-compilation step...

 (merges) different aspect

Aspect (computer science)

In computer science, an aspect of a program is a feature linked to many other parts of the program, but which is not related to the program's primary function. An aspect crosscuts the program's core concerns, therefore violating its separation of concerns that tries to encapsulate unrelated functions...

s into a complete application

Application software

Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...

.

External links

• Paper "A Classification of Pointcut Language Constructs" by Maximilian Störzer and Stefan Hanenberg
• Paper "Back to the Future: Pointcuts as Predicates over Traces" by Karl Klose and Klaus Ostermann
• Paper "Inductively Generated Pointcuts to Support Refactoring to Aspects" by Tom Tourwé, Andy Kellens, Wim Vanderperren and Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse
• Paper "Remote Pointcut - A Language Construct for Distributed AOP" by Muga Nishizawa, Shigeru Chiba
  Shigeru Chiba
  is an actor and voice actor. He has also worked as a sound effects director and music director. He is employed by the talent management firm 81 Produce....
  
   and Michiaki Tatsubori
• Paper "Datalog as a Pointcut Language in Aspect-Oriented Programming"
• Paper "Expressiveness and Complexity of Crosscut Languages" by Karl J. Lieberherr, Jeffrey Palm and Ravi Sundaram