Automatic validation of deployed J2EE components using aspects

Validating that software components meet their requirements under a particular deployment scenario is very challenging. We describe a new approach that uses component aspects, describing functional and nonfunctional cross-cutting concerns impacting components, to perform automated deployed component validation. Aspect information associated with J2EE component implementations is inspected after component deployment by validation agents. These agents run automated tests to determine if the deployed components meet their aspect-described requirements. We describe the way component aspects are encoded, the automated agent-based testing process we employ, and our validation agent architecture and implementation.