Aspect- vs. Object-Oriented Programming: Which Technique, When?

ike most developers, I have been developing software systems using object-oriented programming (OOP) techniques for many years. So when I read that aspect-oriented programming (AOP) addresses many problems that traditional OOP doesn't solve completely or directly, I wanted to better understand its benefits in real world application development. I thought comparing both techniques would provide some practical insight. So I decided to design a case study: an OOP application in which I identified aspects where AOP might be a good fit.

This article presents a similar case study. It begins by introducing a problem domain and then demonstrates two solutions: one that uses OOP and one using AOP. The AOP solution uses a JDK 1.5, JUnit, and AspectWerkz implementation. (The complete source code for both approaches is available in the "Download the Code" section in the left-hand column.) Finally, it demonstrates how to code a few aspects.