Scoped Types and Aspects for Real-Time Java

Abstract

Real-time systems are notoriously difficult to design and implement, and, as many real-time problems are safety-critical, their solutions must be reliable as well as efficient and correct. While higher-level programming models (such as the Real-Time Specification for Java) permit real-time programmers to use language features that most programmers take for granted (objects, type checking, dynamic dispatch, and memory safety) the compromises required for real-time execution, especially concerning memory allocation, can create as many problems as they solve. This paper presents Scoped Types and Aspects for Real-Time Systems (STARS) a novel programming model for real-time systems. Scoped Types give programmers a clear model of their programs’ memory use, and, being statically checkable, prevent the run-time memory errors that bedevil models such as RTSJ. Our Aspects build on Scoped Types guarantees so that Real-Time concerns can be completely separated from applications’ base code. Adopting the integrated Scoped Types and Aspects approach can significantly improve both the quality and performance of a real-time Java systems, resulting in simpler systems that are reliable, efficient, and correct.