Spring AOP Tutorial for Beginners - Step by Step with Example

In this Spring AOP for Beginners tutorial, we will understand Spring AOP concepts and terminology with step-by-step examples. 

AOP is a programming paradigm that aims to increase modularity by allowing the separation of cross-cutting concerns. It does so by adding additional behavior to existing code without modification of the code itself. Instead, we declare separately which code is to modify.

1. What is a cross-cutting concern?

A cross-cutting concern is a functionality that is tangled with business code, which usually cannot be separated from the business logic. Auditing, security, and transaction management are good examples of cross-cutting concerns. They are mingled with the business code, heavily coupled with the functionality that might be affected if they fail. These are good candidates for separation using aspects because there is no design pattern that would allow writing the code in such a way that they would be separated from the business logic.

Basically, the business or base code is not actually changed; you can imagine aspects as plugins. They modify the behavior, not the actual implementation.

Below diagram shows how the concerns like logging, security, and transaction management are cutting across different layers here:

Examples of cross-cutting concerns:

AOP is a complement of OOP (Object Oriented Programming) and they can be used together to write powerful applications because both provide different ways of structuring your code. OOP is focused on making everything an object, while AOP introduces the aspect, which is a special type of object that injects and wraps its behavior to complement the behavior of other objects.

Examples of cross-cutting concerns:

• Logging
• Security
• Transaction management
• Auditing,
• Caching
• Internationalization
• Error detection and correction
• Memory management
• Performance monitoring
• Synchronization

2. Note on AspectJ

AspectJ is an original library that provided components for creating aspects is named AspectJ. It was developed by the Xerox PARC company and released in 1995. It defined a standard for AOP because of its simplicity and usability. The language syntax used to define aspects was similar to Java and allowed developers to define special constructs called aspects. The aspects developed in AspectJ are processed at compile-time, so they directly affect the generated bytecode.

Read more about AspectJ at https://eclipse.org/aspectj/

3. AOP Concepts and Terminology

Unfortunately, AOP terminology is not very intuitive so I will start with creating an example application and then relate the terminology with usage in the example.

Spring AOP + AspectJ Example

Let's quickly create a spring boot application with spring AOP.

There are many ways to create a Spring Boot application. You can refer to the below articles to create a Spring Boot application.

>> Create Spring Boot Project With Spring Initializer
>> Create Spring Boot Project in Spring Tool Suite [STS]

Let's add Spring AOP starter to maven project pom.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project
    xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>net.guides.springboot2</groupId>
    <artifactId>springboot2-springaop-example</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>jar</packaging>
    <name>springboot2-springaop-example</name>
    <description>Demo project for Spring Boot</description>
    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>3.0.4</version>
        <relativePath />
        <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
    </parent>
    <properties>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
        <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
        <java.version>17</java.version>
    </properties>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-aop</artifactId>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

Employee.java

Create a simple Employee POJO class (You can use it as a JPA entity for database operations):

package net.guides.springboot2.springaop.model;

public class Employee {

    private long id;
    private String firstName;
    private String lastName;
    private String emailId;

    public Employee() {

    }

    public Employee(long id, String firstName, String lastName, String emailId) {
        this.id = id;
        this.firstName = firstName;
        this.lastName = lastName;
        this.emailId = emailId;
    }

    public long getId() {
        return id;
    }
    public void setId(long id) {
        this.id = id;
    }

    public String getFirstName() {
        return firstName;
    }
    public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
    }

    public String getLastName() {
        return lastName;
    }
    public void setLastName(String lastName) {
        this.lastName = lastName;
    }

    public String getEmailId() {
        return emailId;
    }
    public void setEmailId(String emailId) {
        this.emailId = emailId;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "Employee [id=" + id + ", firstName=" + firstName + ", lastName=" + lastName + ", emailId=" + emailId +
            "]";
    }
}

EmployeeService.java

To keep it simple, I will create an EmployeeService and manage in-memory objects:

package net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

import net.guides.springboot2.springaop.model.Employee;

/**
 * Employee Service
 * 
 * @author Ramesh
 *
 */
@Service
public class EmployeeService {

    private List < Employee > employees = new ArrayList < > ();

    public List < Employee > getAllEmployees() {
        System.out.println("Method getAllEmployees() called");
        return employees;
    }

    public Employee getEmployeeById(Long employeeId) {
        System.out.println("Method getEmployeeById() called");
        for (Employee employee: employees) {
            if (employee.getId() == Long.valueOf(employeeId)) {
                return employee;
            }
        }
        return null;
    }

    public void addEmployee(Employee employee) {
        System.out.println("Method addEmployee() called");
        employees.add(employee);
    }

    public void updateEmployee(Employee employeeDetails) {
        System.out.println("Method updateEmployee() called");
        for (Employee employee: employees) {
            if (employee.getId() == Long.valueOf(employeeDetails.getId())) {
                employees.remove(employee);
                employees.add(employeeDetails);
            }
        }
    }

    public void deleteEmployee(Long employeeId) {
        System.out.println("Method deleteEmployee() called");
        for (Employee employee: employees) {
            if (employee.getId() == Long.valueOf(employeeId)) {
                employees.remove(employee);
            }
        }
    }
}

LoggingAspect.java

Now, let's create a LogginAspect class:

package net.guides.springboot2.springaop.aspect;

import org.aspectj.lang.JoinPoint;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.After;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Before;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;

/**
 * Aspect for logging execution.
 * 
 * @author Ramesh Fadatare
 *
 */
@Aspect
@Component
public class LoggingAspect {

    private final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(this.getClass());

    @Before("execution(* net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService.*(..))")
    public void logBeforeAllMethods(JoinPoint joinPoint) {
  LOGGER.debug("****LoggingAspect.logBeforeAllMethods() : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
    }

    @Before("execution(* net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService.getEmployeeById(..))")
    public void logBeforeGetEmployee(JoinPoint joinPoint) {
  LOGGER.debug("****LoggingAspect.logBeforeGetEmployee() : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
    }

    @Before("execution(* net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService.createEmployee(..))")
    public void logBeforeAddEmployee(JoinPoint joinPoint) {
  LOGGER.debug("****LoggingAspect.logBeforeCreateEmployee() : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
    }
 
    @After("execution(* net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService.*(..))")
    public void logAfterAllMethods(JoinPoint joinPoint) 
    {
  LOGGER.debug("****LoggingAspect.logAfterAllMethods() : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
    }
    
    @After("execution(* net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService.getEmployeeById(..))")
    public void logAfterGetEmployee(JoinPoint joinPoint) 
    {
     LOGGER.debug("****LoggingAspect.logAfterGetEmployee() : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
    }
    
    @After("execution(* net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService.addEmployee(..))")
    public void logAfterAddEmployee(JoinPoint joinPoint) 
    {
     LOGGER.debug("****LoggingAspect.logAfterCreateEmployee() : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
    }
}

Application.java

Now test the AOP configuration and other stuff with the main() method:

package net.guides.springboot2.springaop;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;

import net.guides.springboot2.springaop.model.Employee;
import net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService;

@SpringBootApplication
public class Application {
 
 public static void main(String[] args) {
  ApplicationContext applicationContext =  SpringApplication.run(Application.class, args);
  EmployeeService employeeService = applicationContext.getBean(EmployeeService.class);
  employeeService.addEmployee(new Employee(100L, "ramesh", "fadatare", "ramesh@gmail.com"));
  employeeService.getEmployeeById(100L);
  employeeService.getAllEmployees();
 }
}

Output

Great, AOP is configured successfully. Now move on to learn AOP terminology.

4. Understanding AOP Concepts and Terminology with the Above Example

Let us now define some central AOP concepts and terminology and relate them to the above example.

Aspect

Aspect is the modularization of a concern that cuts across multiple classes. Transaction management is a good example of a crosscutting concern in enterprise Java applications. In Spring AOP, aspects are implemented by using regular classes (the schema-based approach) or regular classes annotated with the @Aspect annotation (the @AspectJ style).

In our example, we have created a LoggingAspect using a Java-based configuration. To create an aspect, you need to apply @Aspect annotation on the Spring component:

@Aspect
@Component
public class LoggingAspect {
    ...
}

Join point

Join point is a point during the execution of a program, such as the execution of a method or the handling of an exception. In Spring AOP, a join point always represents a method execution.

In our example, all the methods defined inside EmployeeService are joint points.

Advice

Advice is an action taken by an aspect at a particular join point. 

In our example, logBeforeAllMethods(), logBeforeGetEmployee(), logBeforeAddEmployee(), logAfterAllMethods(), logAfterGetEmployee(), and logAfterAddEmployee() methods are advices.

Spring AOP includes the following types of advice.

1. Before advice: Advice that runs before a join point but that does not have the ability to prevent execution flow from proceeding to the join point (unless it throws an exception).

Understand Before advice with an example at Spring AOP AspectJ @Before Annotation

2. After returning advice: Advice to be run after a join point completes normally (for example, if a method returns without throwing an exception).

Understand After returning with an example at Spring AOP AspectJ @AfterReturning Annotation Example

3. After throwing advice: Advice to be executed if a method exists by throwing an exception.

Understand After throwing advice with an example at Spring AOP AspectJ @AfterThrowing Example

4. After (finally) advice: Advice to be executed regardless of the means by which a join point exits (normal or exceptional return).

Understand After advice with an example at Spring AOP AspectJ After Advice Example using @After Annotation

5. Around advice: Advice that surrounds a join point such as a method invocation. This is the most powerful kind of advice. Around advice can perform custom behavior before and after the method invocation. It is also responsible for choosing whether to proceed to the join point or to shortcut the advised method execution by returning its own return value or throwing an exception.

Understand Around advice with an example at Spring AOP AspectJ @Around Annotation Example

Pointcut

A Pointcut is a predicate that helps match Advice to be applied by an Aspect at a particular JoinPoint. The Advice is often associated with a Pointcut expression and runs at any Joinpoint matched by the Pointcut.

In our example, the expressions passed in @Before and @After annotations are pointcuts. For example:

@Before("execution(* net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService.*(..))")

@After("execution(* net.guides.springboot2.springaop.service.EmployeeService.*(..))")

Target object

An object being advised by one or more aspects. Also referred to as the “advised object”. Since Spring AOP is implemented by using runtime proxies, this object is always a proxied object.

In our example, EmployeeService is an advised object hence it is the target object.

AOP proxy

An object created by the AOP framework in order to implement the aspect contracts (advise method executions and so on). In the Spring Framework, an AOP proxy is a JDK dynamic proxy or a CGLIB proxy.

In our example, a proxy object is created when we ask for the bean reference for EmployeeService class.

5. Enabling @AspectJ Support

The AspectJ support can be enabled with XML or Java-based configuration. In either case, you will also need to ensure that AspectJ’s aspectjweaver.jar library is on the classpath of your application (version 1.8 or later).

Enabling @AspectJ Support with Java Configuration

To enable @AspectJ support with Java @Configuration, add the @EnableAspectJAutoProxy annotation, as the following example shows:

@Configuration
@EnableAspectJAutoProxy
public class AppConfig {

}

Enabling @AspectJ Support with XML Configuration

To enable @AspectJ support with XML-based configuration, use the aop:aspectj-autoproxy element, as the following example shows:

<aop:aspectj-autoproxy/>

6. Declaring an Aspect

With @AspectJ support enabled, any bean defined in your application context with a class that is an @AspectJ aspect (has the @Aspect annotation) is automatically detected by Spring and used to configure Spring AOP.

Using XML Configuration

Below XML bean shows a regular bean definition in the application context that points to a bean class that has the @Aspect annotation:

<bean id="myAspect" class="org.xyz.NotVeryUsefulAspect">
    <!-- configure properties of the aspect here -->
</bean>

package org.xyz;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect;
@Aspect
public class LoggingAspect {

}

Related Spring AOP Tutorials and Examples

• Spring Boot + Spring AOP Logging Example Tutorial

• Spring AOP + AspectJ @Before, @After, @AfterReturning, @AfterThrowing, and @Around Example

Related Spring AOP - Advice Types Example

• Spring AOP AspectJ @Before Annotation

• Spring AOP AspectJ @AfterThrowing Example

• Spring AOP AspectJ @Around Annotation Example

• Spring AOP AspectJ @AfterReturning Annotation Example

• Spring AOP AspectJ After Advice Example using @After Annotation