AspectJ 1.6.11

The full list of resolved issues in 1.6.11 is available here

Release info: 1.6.11 available 15-Mar-2011

Notable Changes

RC1 - Our own XML parser

Due to the way AspectJ loads one of the standard XML parsers (for processing aop.xml) it was possible to get into a deadlock situation. To avoid this completely we now have our own XML parser inside for processing this files. It is basic but should support all the known syntax we have for aop files. To use it instead of the default (if you are encountering the deadlock) you need to specify this system property: org.aspectj.weaver.loadtime.configuration.lightxmlparser=true.

M2 - Multithreaded world access

The weaver is backed by a representation of types called a world. Traditionally the worlds have supported single threads - and that is how they are used when doing compile time weaving or load time weaving. However in some configurations, e.g. pointcut matching under Spring, a single world instance may be getting accessed by multiple threads at the same time. Under bug337855 some changes have been made to better support this kind of configuration.

M2 - various attribute deserialization issues

In 1.6.9 we made some radical changes to the serialized form. It turns out some of the deserialization code wasn’t handling these new forms quite right. This would manifest as an IllegalStateException or IndexOutOfBoundsException or similar, during attribute unpacking. These issues have now all been sorted out in 1.6.11.M2.

M2 - further optimizations in model for AJDT

More changes have been made for users trying out the -Xset:minimalModel=true option to try and reduce the memory used in their Eclipse/AJDT configurations. This option is discussed in detail here. It now saves even more memory. Also, previously the amount of memory it recovered depended on compilation order (which the user has no control over), but now it is insensitive to ordering and should always recover the same amount across builds of the same project. With a bit more positive feedback on this option, it will become the default under AJDT.

M2 - spaces in path names can cause problems

AspectJ had problems if the paths it was being passed (e.g. aspectpath) included spaces. This is bug 282379 and has now been fixed.

M1 - Annotation removal

Traditionally AspectJ has taken an additive approach, where methods/fields/supertypes/annotations can only be added to types. Now, chaos would likely ensue if we allowed removal of supertypes, methods, etc, but we are seeing an increasing number of requirements to do more with annotations. What kinds of thing? Basically remove existing annotations, or modify existing annotations by changing their values. 1.6.11 includes a new piece of syntax that we are thinking might be appropriate for one of these scenarios. 1.6.11 supports this:

declare @field: int Foo.i: -@Anno;

Notice the '-' in front of the annotation, meaning 'removal'. The whole construct means 'remove the @Anno annotation from the int field called i in type Foo'. It is not yet supported on the other forms of declare @.

M1 - Intertype innertypes

More work has gone into this feature. It was originally added in 1.6.9 but the inability to use it with binary weaving greatly reduced the usefulness. Fixes have gone into 1.6.11 to support binary weaving. What do we mean by intertype innertypes? Here is an example:

class Foo {
  public void m() {
    System.out.println(Inner.i);
  }
}

aspect X {
  public static class Foo.Inner {
    static int i = 34;
  }
}

Only static inner types are supported.