request: python style decorators / aspect orientation

[Alix Pexton]

Daniel Keep wrote:
> On a side note; is this all Aspect-oriented programming is?  Everything
> I read about it basically amounted to "AOP is the Second Coming!!!!!
> Also, Java is the best language EVAR!!!!!!" and never really said what
> it was or why it was useful.
> 
> If all it is is glorified function wrapping, I'm going to be somewhat
> disappointed :P

I had a similar experience the first time I tried to learn about AOP, and on that
occasion, I just gave up on it.

The second time I tried to understand what it was all about I started with the
Wikipedia article, and read a few of the linked references.

There was alot of stuff about cross-cutting code, things that you do in many places
that aren't really related to what you are doing, but are a requirement of the
platform you are working with.

In the end, I came to the conclusion that AOP was a hack for people who are creating
software rapidly, with little or no design process prior to implementation.

I am of the opinion that if you design your software and build upon levels of
abstraction, like a good little software engineer, then the problem that AOP is
supposed to solve, never crops up.

All that said, I'm not entirely sure that I understood fully everything that I read
about AOP, it didn't have my full attention, due mostly to the frustration with
trying to pin down good reference material.

If someone can give a good clear example of exactly what AOP is, what the benefits are
and why it is the best solution, then I'm still prepared to be convinced :)

A...