Virtual Machine Support for Aspect-Oriented Programming Languages

Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is, like structured, logic, functional or object-oriented programming, a programming paradigm in its own right. Until recently, many of the different AOP language implementations lacked the kind of support for the paradigm''s core mechanisms that is common for mechanisms of other paradigms: direct support from the run-time environment. For example, virtual machines for object-oriented programming languages offer direct support for resolving virtual methods via method tables. Such support used to be available for aspect-oriented mechanisms only to a limited degree. Mostly, the implementation of a run-time environment for AOP languages was simulated at application level. In the course of this work, Steamloom was implemented, a virtual machine with explicit support for AOP mechanisms. Steamloom is an extension of an existing virtual machine for the Java programming language. It deeply integrates support for AOP mechanisms in the Java execution environment while not sacrificing performance, an important goal in programming language implementation.