AOP is often perceived as a second class reflective mechanism, whereas reflection in OOP is considered first class. However, perceiving AOP as a first class language mechanism is conductive to developing a general AOP model, which can be a basis for an overall theory of AOP. We illustrate this view by comparing AOP with reflection and illustrating that both mechanisms are conceptually at the same level.
['Sergei Kojarski', 'David H. Lorenz']
AOP as a first class reflective mechanism