Separate Compilation as a Separate Concern

Aspect-oriented programming allows developers to modularize cross-cutting con-cerns in software source code. Concerns are implemented as aspects, which can be re-used across projects. During compilation or at run-time, the cross-cutting aspects are “woven ” into the base program code. After weaving, the aspect code is scattered across and tangled with base code and code from other aspects. Many aspects may affect the code generated by a single source module. It is difficult to predict which dependencies exist between base code modules and aspect modules. This language-specific information is, however, crucial for the development of a compiler that supports selective recompilation or incremental compilation. We propose a reusable, language-independent framework that aspect-oriented lan-guage developers can use to automatically detect and track dependencies, transpar-ently enabling selective recompilation. Our implementation is based on Stratego/XT, a framework for developing transformation systems. By using simple and concise rewrite rules, it is very suitable for developing domain-specific languages