AOP→HiddenMetrics : Separation, Extensibility and Adaptability in SW Measurement

Traditional approaches to dynamic system analysis and metrics measurement are based on system code (both source, intermediate and executable code) instrumentation or need ad hoc support by the run-time environment. In these contexts, the measurement process is tricky, invasive and the results could be affected by the process itself making the data not germane. Moreover, the tool based on these approaches are difficult to customize, extend and often use since their properties are rooted at specific system details (e.g., special tools such as bytecode analyzers or virtual machine goodies such as the debugger interface) and require high efforts, skills and knowledges to be adapted. Notwithstanding its importance, software measurement is clearly a nonfunctional concern and should not impact on the software development and efficiency. Aspectoriented programming provides the mechanisms to deal with this kind of concern and to overcome the software measurement limitations. In this paper, we present a different approach to dynamic software measurements based on aspect-oriented programming and the corresponding support framework named AOPHiddenMetrics. The proposed approach makes the measurement process highly customizable and easy to use reducing its invasiveness and the dependency from the code knowledge.