| As programs continue to increase in size, it has become increasingly difficult to separate concerns into well localized modules, which leads to code tangling - crosscutting code spread throughout several modules. Thus, aspect-oriented programming (AOP) offers a solution to creating modules with little or no crosscutting concerns. AOP presents the notion of aspects, and demonstrates how crosscutting concerns can be taken out of modules and placed in a centralized location.; In this paper, a taxonomy of aspect-oriented programming, as well as a basic overview and introduction of AOP, will be presented in order to assist future researchers in getting started on additional research on the topic. To form the taxonomy, over four-hundred research articles were organized into fifteen different primary categories coupled with sub-categories, which show where some of the past research has been focused. In addition, trends of the research were evaluated and paths for future exploration are suggested. |
