Java EE 8 Design Patterns and Best Practices

Compile-time versus run-time AOP

AOP is achieved through code injection during compile-time or runtime.

Frameworks that implement AOP at compile-time change the binary code (the .class file), so when the interceptor code is injected, we are left with a .class file that is different from the .class that would be generated without the injection code. The resulting .class file then becomes incompatible with the source code.

On the other hand, the run-time injection does not modify either the source code or the .class file. In this case, the interception method is done in a separate code from the class or place that contains the method. As a consequence, the interception codes that are executed before and after the method's original call are ...