Applying aspect-orient programming concepts to a component-based programming model

Abstract

Abstract-The execution environments For scientific applications have evolved significantly over the years. Vector and parallel architectures have provided significantly faster computations. Cluster computers have reduced the cost of high-performance architectures. However, the software development environments have not keep pace. Object-oriented and component-based languages have not been widely adopted. Distributed computing on local area networks and Grids is only being used by a most number of applications.Clearly, there is a need for development environments that support the efficient creation of applications that use modern execution systems. This has been the goal of a continuing research effort over the last several years. The previous focus has been on using component-based ideas to develop a programming model and associated framework to support such a development approach. In this paper, two additional concepts are added to the base approach. Aspect-oriented concepts are applied to support the reduction of intertwined code related to different programming concerns; mixing I/O with a numerical computation is one example. Particularly in large applications, intertwining code can lead to applications that are difficult to modify and to manage. The second concept being added is the use of behavioral metadata. When coupling smaller pieces of code (or components) to make a larger composite application, one needs to determine the suitability of the internal behavior of component as well as the compatibility of its interfaces. The objective is to integrate some of this information into the component and design a framework assist the programmer in making these decisions. I. OBJECTIVE OF TARGET FRAMEWORK A. The Focus for the Programming ModelProgramming efficiency has generally been a problem in the development of scientific applications. [1] [2] Application developers must juggle a number of concerns, which include the correct implementation of algorithms, high performance requirements, and use of large data sets. The need to analyze the output adds other programming aspects, such as the use of graphics routines. The ever changing architecture designs of computers further complicates the scenario. Also, target problems are transitioning from a narrow focus (i.e., the study of an isolated physical phenomenon) to multi-discipline applications where different element applications must interact to correctly capture the target problem. [3] [4] And, the need to share part or all of an application is increasing.Clearly, the development of modular, well-organized applications that are portable is an important goal of most application developers. The use of library packages has traditionally been the means of supporting such a programming requirement. But, many applications still end up with the Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 different types of programming aspects coded in an intertwined style which results in applications that are hard to decipher and to manage. The inte...

Methodology and framework for the development of scientific applications with high-performance computing through web services

“…Además se presenta una implementación eficiente de mecanismos de alto nivel, basados en MPI y enfocados a sistemas paralelos de memoria distribuida; Un estudio cuantitativo sobre los beneficios de la POA en aplicaciones basadas en componentes es mostrado en [16]; En [4] se propone un modelo donde los metadatos para los componentes propuestos son el núcleo de su enfoque, separando los detalles de los diferentes aspectos que componen cada aplicación y permitiendo el desarrollo de código con un conjunto mínimo de métodos genéricos. En [5] se presenta un framework para la resolución de problemas numéricos de alto rendimiento que permite la obtención de código reutilizable fácil de desarrollar y mantener, consiguiendo mejorar la eficiencia a través de cambios dinámicos en los aspectos en tiempo de ejecución.…”

“…2 Existen líneas de código distribuidas por toda o gran parte de la aplicación para definir la lógica de cierta propiedad o comportamiento del sistema. necesidad de entornos de programación que permitan el desarrollo de código de forma eficiente, evitando que los diversos módulos de la aplicación no se entremezclen de forma que ésta se vuelva difícil de modificar e incluso mantener [4].…”

A Standard and Software for Numerical Metadata

“…At the moment, any software component that needs metadata on numerical input needs to compute this itself, or know how to call external software that can perform the computation. To disentangle these concerns, we envision specifications of the numerical component asking for a certain piece of metadata, which can then be computed on demand by the main program, or, slightly more ambitiously, by a programming framework that controls the integration of the components [Eidson et al 2003]. …”

“…The cleanest use of metadata is in the context of a component-based programming framework [Eidson et al 2003], as described earlier. The component that needs the metadata would declare this fact to the framework, which then creates the relevant categories in the metadata structure and calls an appropriate analysis module which fills in the requested elements.…”

Improvements in the efficient composition of applications built using a component-based programming environment

“…Our research [8] is focused on the development of a component-based framework that supports components with improved programming flexibility and with behavioral analysis capability. [9] In this paper, we will outline the approach that we are developing in these two areas.…”