Spring AOP

What is AOP, and how does it relate to OOP?

AOP stands for Aspect Oriented Programming. It divides the application logic into parts called concerns. AOP is similar to OOP in terms of modularity. It differs from OOP in the way modularity is defined. In OOP, modularity is achieved by using classes whereas in AOP modularity is achieved using aspects that are applied to different class methods. Since aspects or concerns apply to the whole application, their processing should be centralized.

What is a cross-cutting concern in AOP?

A cross cutting concern is something that affects the whole application. Instead of handling it separately in every layer, it is handled in a centralized manner. Examples of cross cutting concerns are security, logging, transaction management, and error handling etc.

Is there a difference between the terms concern and cross cutting concern in Spring AOP?

Concern can be defined as the functionality of a particular module in the application. For example in an e-commerce application, concerns may be inventory management and user management etc.

A cross cutting concern is a concern that is applicable across multiple application layers. For example logging and security functionality is needed by every module of an application.

What problems does AOP solve?

AOP modularizes the code in terms of cross cutting concerns. The absence of AOP leads to two main problems. ...