Bytecode enhancement for fields in a class

Question

Is it possible to add "hooks" to a class via bytecode enhancement that execute code whenever a class field is read or written? For example, I'd like to automatically set a "dirty" flag whenever a new value is assigned to a field.

If so, which libraries are best suited to implement this functionality?

Isn't the purpose of getters and setters to encapsulate functionality such as this? — Adamski
– Adamski, Commented Nov 16, 2010 at 12:39
Yes, but I want to avoid the hand-coding of functionality that will need to be repeated for each field — Tony the Pony
– Tony the Pony, Commented Nov 16, 2010 at 12:46

AlexR · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-16 13:29:44Z

2

I'd suggest you to read about AspectJ. Probably this is the tool you are looking for.

answered Nov 16, 2010 at 13:29

AlexR

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aioobe · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-16 11:23:41Z

Here is how to generate getters and setters using the ASM framework. That should get you started.

http://asm.ow2.org/doc/faq.html#Q9

You can even let your bytecode-rewriter hook into the class-loader and do the rewriting on the fly.

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