Computational error handling as aspects: a case study

Abstract

Computational error handling is vitally important in scientific computing programs. Traditional approaches tangle the error handling concerns with the primary functional codes. This paper describes our empirical study of using AspectJ to refactor a real-world Satellite Orbit Forecasting (SOF) system, and assesses the experiences gained from applying aspect-oriented techniques. The result shows that the AspectJ version improves the modularity and maintainability of the program by encapsulating computational error handling polices as aspects without noticeable compromise in performance.