4.2. Selecting join points with pointcuts

As mentioned before, pointcuts are used to pinpoint where an aspect’s advice should be applied. Along with an aspect’s advice, pointcuts are among the most fundamental elements of an aspect. Therefore, it’s important to know how to write pointcuts.

In Spring AOP, pointcuts are defined using AspectJ’s pointcut expression language. If you’re already familiar with AspectJ, then defining pointcuts in Spring should feel natural. But in case you’re new to AspectJ, this section will serve as a quick lesson on writing AspectJ-style pointcuts. For a more detailed discussion on AspectJ and AspectJ’s pointcut expression language, I strongly recommend Ramnivas Laddad’s AspectJ in Action, Second Edition.