Title: Extension and adaptation of an aspect oriented programming language for real-time systems

Authors: Wafa Gabsi; Bechir Zalila; Mohamed Jmaiel

Addresses: ReDCAD Laboratory, National School of Engineers of Sfax, University of Sfax, BP 1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia ' ReDCAD Laboratory, National School of Engineers of Sfax, University of Sfax, BP 1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia ' ReDCAD Laboratory, National School of Engineers of Sfax, University of Sfax, BP 1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia; Digital Research Center, Technopark of Sfax, BP 275, Sakiet Ezzit, 3021 Sfax, Tunisia

Abstract: Aspect oriented programming (AOP) supports the separation of concerns cutting across the implementation of a software application to avoid scattering and tangling. We focus on the integration of this paradigm in the development of real-time systems. AOP is based on the weaving process to automatically integrate separately created segments of code, into the application. In the context of real-time systems, this can compromise determinism by including constructs that may violate real-time constraints. In this paper, we both study and test the AspectAda language, an existing aspect extension for Ada, in order to adapt its implementation to respect real-time constraints. We study this language's grammar, runtime and especially weaving operations. Then, we extract its limits and provide solutions to adapt it to support real-time constraints. Finally, we propose a new architecture of the compiler/weaver to overcome the problems of the existing one and we detail its different parts.

Keywords: aspect oriented programming; AOP; AspectAda; Ada; architecture; real-time constraints; compiler; systems; technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBSR.2020.106274

International Journal of Business and Systems Research, 2020 Vol.14 No.2, pp.139 - 161

Received: 16 Mar 2018
Accepted: 28 Aug 2018
Published online: 02 Apr 2020 *

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