Specifying metadata using annotations has gained huge popularity since its introduction in Java 5. However, the story on consuming annotations isn't as clear. Reading and processing annotation is still a complex process often requiring you to understand byte-code manipulation tools and their low-level API. As a result, most developers shy away from using custom annotations, limiting their usages of annotations only those prescribed by frameworks. The result is missed opportunities for programming simplification. In this session, we explore how AOP can make it a simple task to consume annotation in a powerful manner.

This session explores many opportunities to consume annotations using Spring AOP and AspectJ. The examples discussed in this session cover a wide range from auditing, monitoring to security, transaction management, and policy enforcement. It also examines best practices in using annotations to avoid pre-processor like use of them.