<article class="faq">
<title>Frequently Asked Questions about AspectJ</title>
<para>Copyright (c) 1997-2001 Xerox Corporation,
- 2002 Palo Alto Research Center, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
+ 2002 Palo Alto Research Center, Incorporated,
+ 2003 Contributors. All rights reserved.
</para>
<!-- todo Update me! -->
- <para>Last updated January 8, 2003.
+ <para>Last updated February 26, 2003.
</para>
<para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
- <question id="q:contributions"
- xreflabel="Q:What can I do to help on the AspectJ project?">
- <para>What can I do to help on the AspectJ project?
+ <question id="q:eclipseetc"
+ xreflabel="Q:What are the relationships between AspectJ, JDT,
+ Eclipse, AJDT, and IDE support generally?">
+ <para>What are the relationships between AspectJ, JDT,
+ Eclipse, AJDT, and IDE support generally?
</para>
</question>
<answer>
- <para>Here's a general list, in no particular order:
+ <para>Eclipse is a software platform.
+ </para>
+ <para>JDT is an eclipse project to support Java development.
+ JDT has a Java compiler.
+ </para>
+ <para>AspectJ 1.1 is built on Eclipse/JDT's Java compiler
+ but is distributed standalone and can run standalone.
+ With the AspectJ distribution, you can compile and run
+ AspectJ programs and use the AspectJ structure browser.
+ </para>
+ <para>AJDT is an eclipse project to integrate AspectJ
+ into Eclipse/JDT so you can use Eclipse to develop
+ AspectJ programs. AJDT aims to support the full Eclipse
+ experience - searching, compiler-error tasks, etc.
+ AJDT will use the AspectJ Development Environment (AJDE)
+ API's for creating IDE integrations, as well as hooking
+ in to the model underlying the Java compiler.
+ </para>
+ <para>Similarly, Sourceforge has projects integrating
+ AspectJ into other development environments
+ using the AJDE API's:
+ <ulink url="http://aspectj4emacs.sourceforge.net">
+ AspectJ for Emacs</ulink>,
+ <ulink url="http://aspectj4jbuildr.sourceforge.net">
+ AspectJ for JBuilder</ulink>, and
+ <ulink url="http://aspectj4netbean.sourceforge.net">
+ AspectJ for NetBeans</ulink>.
+ </para>
+ <para>This is the right level of separation/integration.
+ AspectJ is available standalone, leverages an existing open-source
+ compliant Java compiler, and supports external projects
+ doing IDE integrations in Eclipse, Emacs, JBuilder, and NetBeans
+ through a common API, AJDE.
+ </para>
+ </answer>
+ </qandaentry>
+ </qandadiv>
+ <qandadiv id="Developers" xreflabel="AspectJ Project Development">
+ <title>AspectJ Project Development</title>
+ <qandaentry>
+ <question id="q:contributions"
+ xreflabel="Q:I'm interested in the code implementing AspectJ.
+ How can I get involved with developing the AspectJ project?">
+ <para>I'm interested in the code implementing AspectJ.
+ How can I get involved with developing the AspectJ project?
+ </para>
+ </question>
+ <answer>
+ <para>Most people do not need to see the code for AspectJ;
+ they can download the binary distribution for documentation
+ and tools for writing AspectJ programs.
+ </para>
+ <para>For people who want to know how the AspectJ technology works,
+ the source code is the best resource.
+ There are no white papers or high-level design documents for AspectJ.
+ To get and compile the Java source code for the AspectJ
+ distribution, see
+ <xref linkend="q:buildingsource"/>.
+ </para>
+ <para>Bear in mind when looking at the code that there are many
+ ways to implement the AspectJ language, and the code inspected
+ might be an initial version of a new architecture (e.g., bytecode
+ weaving).
+ </para>
+ <para>For those who want to contribute to the project,
+ here's a general list of ways to do so, in no particular order:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Participate effectively in the mailing lists.
- The quality of the mailing lists makes a big difference
+ The quality of the mailing lists makes a huge difference
in the ability of new and experienced AspectJ users
to write good code. For guidance on effective
participation, see
- <xref id="q:talktousers"/> and
- <xref id="q:writingbugsandemails"/>.
+ <xref linkend="q:talktousers"/> and
+ <xref linkend="q:writingbugsandemails"/>.
+ Also, the time that experienced users take in answering emails
+ can directly translate to time developers can use (instead)
+ for fixing bugs or adding features.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
any which do not have test case attachments or a comment that
a test case has been written.
Here is a query for open compiler bugs:
- <!-- ulink gacks on the = next - quote it -->
+ <!-- ulink gacks on ampersands in url value, so quote them -->
<ulink url="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?product=AspectJ&component=Compiler&bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED">
http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?product=AspectJ&component=Compiler&bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED
</ulink>
<xref linkend="q:harnesstestcases"/>.
</para>
</listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Write patches to fix bugs.
+ If you particularly need a bug to be fixed, or if you're interested in
+ learning about the system, then get the source code and try to fix the
+ bug. Most likely you'll want to email aspectj-dev@eclipse.org to
+ declare your intentions and the approach you propose (based on having
+ looked at the code).
+ Mailing the list gives those experienced with the code a chance to
+ guide you away from pitfalls. To submit the patch, attach it to
+ the bug. (When creating patches, do so on a per-module basis; that
+ means if fixing the bug involves changes to three modules, submit
+ three patches.)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Write patches for other reasons.
+ Often documentation needs to be fixed, or there may be a small new
+ feature you'd like to see. You can just do it and then submit it
+ as a patch to a bug you create. As with bugs, in some cases you
+ might want to declare your intentions on the mailing list to avoid
+ wasting time on something that's been fixed but not committed or
+ on an approach that will be fruitless.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
+ <qandaentry>
+ <question id="q:buildingsource"
+ xreflabel="Q:How do I get and compile the source code for AspectJ?">
+ <para>How do I get and compile the source code for AspectJ?
+ </para>
+ </question>
+ <answer>
+ <para>AspectJ 1.1 source code is available through CVS using the CVS Root
+ <literal>dev.eclipse.org:/home/technology</literal>. For more information
+ on accessing the CVS tree at eclipse.org, see the documentation
+ from <ulink url="http://eclipse.org">http://eclipse.org</ulink>.
+ Find specific instructions in the AspectJ tree at
+ <ulink url="http://dev.eclipse.org/viewcvs/index.cgi/~checkout~/org.aspectj/modules/build/readme-build-and-test-aspectj.html?rev=HEAD&content-type=text/html&cvsroot=Technology_Project">
+ org.aspectj/modules/build/readme-build-and-test-aspectj.html</ulink>.
+ </para>
+ <para>The AspectJ tree is organized into modules as follows:
+ <programlisting>
+ org.aspectj/
+ modules/
+ ajbrowser/
+ ajde/
+ ...
+ lib/
+ ...
+ </programlisting>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ You can check out the entire modules directory and build using the
+ Ant build script <literal>modules/build/build.xml</literal>.
+ All required libraries are included in <literal>modules/lib/</literal>,
+ (including Ant 1.5.1 in <literal>modules/lib/ant</literal>).
+ If you are using Eclipse, you can check out any <literal>modules/</literal>
+ subdirectory as an eclipse Java project.
+ Depending on what you are trying to build, you need not check out
+ all modules; as of this writing, here are the modules to get
+ when trying to build something:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>For any builds: build, lib
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>For the documentation: docs
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>For the compiler: bridge, util, testing-util,
+ weaver, asm, org.eclipse.jdt.core, org.aspectj.ajdt.core,
+ and runtime.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>For ajbrowser: the compiler modules, plus
+ ajbrowser, taskdefs, and ajde.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>For the test harness: the ajbrowser modules, plus
+ testing, testing-client, and testing-drivers.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>To run the test suite: the test harness modules, plus
+ tests.
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that module interdependencies are recorded only in the eclipse
+ <literal>modules/{module}/.classpath
+ </literal>
+ files and may
+ change, so the list above may not be correct when you read it.
+ </para>
+ </answer>
+ </qandaentry>
+ <qandaentry>
+ <question id="q:devDocs"
+ xreflabel="Q:Where do I find developer documentation on building and testing AspectJ source code?">
+ <para>Where do I find developer documentation on building and testing AspectJ source code?
+ </para>
+ </question>
+ <answer>
+ <para>Find the developer documentation in HTML files in the CVS tree,
+ inside the <literal>build</literal> and <literal>testing</literal> modules
+ (i.e., in <literal>org.aspectj/modules/build/...</literal>).
+ Most pertinant:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><literal>../build/readme-build-and-test-aspectj.html</literal>
+ describes how to build the AspectJ distribution in Eclipse
+ and in Ant.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><literal>../build/readme-docs-module.html</literal>
+ describes the AspectJ documentation sources and
+ how to build the documentation using Ant.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><literal>../build/readme-tests-module.html</literal>
+ describes the all the tests
+ in the <literal>tests</literal> module.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><literal>../build/readme-writing-compiler-tests.html</literal>
+ describes how to write compiler tests that can be run by
+ the AspectJ test harness.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><literal>../build/readme-testing-drivers-module.html</literal>
+ describes the test harness used to run the compiler tests
+ in the <literal>tests</literal> module.
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem><literal>../build/readme-testing-drivers-module.html</literal>
+ describes the test harness used to run the compiler tests
+ in the <literal>testing</literal> module.
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ </answer>
+ </qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="q:harnesstestcases"
xreflabel="Q:How should I submit test cases for bugs?">
p2/
BeforeConstructor.java
- Note the bug number goes in the pr attribute
- ("pr" for "problem report");
+ Note the bug number goes in the pr attribute.
+ ("pr" stands for "problem report")
-->
<ajc-test dir="one" pr="234" title="before constructor call">
<compile files="pack1/Main.java,p2/BeforeConstructor.java"/>
</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
- <qandaentry>
- <question id="q:buildingsource"
- xreflabel="Q:How do I get and compile the source code for AspectJ?">
- <para>How do I get and compile the source code for AspectJ?
- </para>
- </question>
- <answer>
- <para>AspectJ 1.1 source code is available through CVS using the CVS Root
- <literal>dev.eclipse.org:/home/technology</literal>. For more information
- on accessing the CVS tree at eclipse.org, see the documentation
- from <ulink url="http://eclipse.org">http://eclipse.org</ulink>.
- </para>
- <para>The AspectJ tree is organized into modules as follows:
- <programlisting>
- org.aspectj/
- modules/
- ajbrowser/
- ajde/
- ...
- </programlisting>
- </para>
- <para>
- You can check out the entire modules directory and build using the
- Ant build script <literal>modules/build/build.xml</literal>.
- All required libraries are included in <literal>modules/lib/</literal>,
- (including Ant 1.5.1 in <literal>modules/lib/ant</literal>).
- If you are using Eclipse, you can check out any <literal>modules/</literal>
- subdirectory as an eclipse Java project.
- Depending on what you are trying to build, you need not check out
- all modules; as of this writing, here are the modules to get
- when trying to build something:
- </para>
- <para>
- <itemizedlist>
- <listitem>For any builds: build, lib
- </listitem>
- <listitem>For the documentation: docs
- </listitem>
- <listitem>For the compiler: bridge, util, testing-util,
- weaver, asm, org.eclipse.jdt.core, org.aspectj.ajdt.core,
- and runtime.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>For ajbrowser: the compiler modules, plus
- ajbrowser, taskdefs, and ajde.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>For the test harness: the ajbrowser modules, plus
- testing, testing-client, and testing-drivers.
- </listitem>
- <listitem>To run the test suite: the test harness modules, plus
- tests.
- </listitem>
- </itemizedlist>
- </para>
- <para>
- Note that module interdependencies are recorded only in the eclipse
- <literal>modules/{module}/.classpath
- </literal>
- files and may
- change, so the list above may not be correct when you read it.
- </para>
- </answer>
- </qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="q:testharness"
xreflabel="Q:I'd like to run my test case. How do I get the test harness?">
</para>
</question>
<answer>
- <para>The test harness is not distributed
- (though we may put it on an AspectJ page.)
+ <para>The test harness is not distributed.
To build it, get the source tree as
described in <xref linkend="q:buildingsource"/> and then
build the <literal>build-testing-drivers</literal> target:
<entry align="left">Version</entry>
<entry align="left">Description</entry>
</row>
- <row>
- <entry valign="top" align="center">1.1</entry>
- <entry>Language changes, bytecode weaving and incremental compilation.
- </entry>
- </row>
<row>
<entry valign="top" align="center">1.0</entry>
<entry>Final syntax and semantic changes. Standalone structure
projects / aspectj.git / commitdiff