[aspectj-users] Drawbacks of AOP

["Pedone, Tim" <Tim_Pedone@xxxxxxxxxx>]

When I first discovered AOP, I was quite enamored with it.  It seemed that
it solves quite a few common problems; however, I also wanted to see what
other people thought of it so I did some research and came across an issue
that I think needs addressing.

This issue is pointcut visibility.  The problem is that a programmer looking
over some code may not realize that the code is cut by an Aspect.  He may
copy the code into another method and the code may or may not work the same
depending on how the pointcut is defined. Or he may make a change to the
code not fully realizing the impact of the change because of the pointcut.

I'd like to get some feedback regarding this from the AOP community.  I'm
trying to introduce AOP here are work but want to make sure I understand the
shortcomings as well as the benefits.

Thanks,

Tim