In model driven development (MDD)

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To manage the development of cooperative information systems that support the dynamics and mobility of modern businesses, separation of concern mechanisms and abstractions are needed. Model driven development (MDD) approaches utilize abstraction and transformation to handle complexity. In MDD, specifying transformations between models at various levels of abstraction can be a complex task. Specifying transformations for pervasive system services that are tangled with other system services is particularly difficult because the elements to be transformed are distributed across a model. This paper presents an aspect oriented model driven framework (AOMDF) that facilitates separation of pervasive services and supports their transformation across different levels of abstraction. The framework facilitates composition of pervasive services with enterprise services at various levels of abstraction. The framework is illustrated using an example in which a platform independent model of a banking service is transformed to a platform specific model.

An innovative middleware-transparent approach to developing distributed applications is presented. The approach uses an aspect-oriented software development technique to separate an application's middleware-independent functionality from its middleware-specific functionality. Application elements that are specific to the middleware are localized in aspects that can be seamlessly integrated into middleware-independent application designs. The middleware-transparent approach is used to decouple business functionality from middleware-specific functionality. The decoupling allows developers to change middleware application elements without significantly modifying business functionality. Middleware technologies such as Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI), Jini, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) remote procedure call (RPC) and .Net are used as examples to illustrate the approach.Middleware functionality is cross-cutting, in that it is pervasive and is tangled with business-specific functionality in distributed applications. Middleware services (e.g., security), may also cross-cut other middleware features (e.g., event services and transactions). Middleware services are sometimes encapsulated as components. However, to use the services, the business-specific design must include calls to services at appropriate locations in the design and must ensure appropriate ordering of services (e.g., performing authentication before authorization). The cross-cutting nature makes changing the middleware of distributed applications risky and challenging.This paper presents a middleware-transparent approach to the development of distributed applications that allows architects to design business functionality without considering the middleware that will provide transparent access to remote resources. The approach uses an aspect-oriented technique to decouple business functionality from middleware concerns. Middleware-specific application elements are localized in aspects that can be seamlessly integrated (or woven) into an application design describing core business functionality. The localization of cross-cutting middleware concerns helps to insulate designs of business functionality from changes in middleware technologies.The approach can be applied to designs expressed in an aspect-oriented programming (AOP) language, such as AspectJ, or to designs expressed in a modeling language such as the Unified Modeling Language (UML) [6]. The focus of this paper is on the use of the approach at the code level. An overview of how the approach can be used to support model-driven development is given in Sections 2 and 9. BACKGROUNDAdvances in Internet and middleware technologies have spawned a new generation of softwareintensive systems. As organizations seek to enhance services and gain competitive advantage, developers are under increasing pressure to develop quality systems that quickly utilize new technologies. Software evolution is problematic when developers must adapt software systems to rapidly evolving technologies in order to mainta...

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