Mechanisms for secure modular programming in Java

Source: www.ece.cmu.edu
Topic: Java Programming

Short Desciption:
Java supports modular programming at both the class level and the package level. At the class level. the interface facility of the language provides ...

 

Content Inside:
Mechanisms for secure modular programming in JavaPage 1SOFTWAREPRACTICE AND EXPERIENCESoftw. Pract. Exper. 2003; 33:461480 (DOI: 10.1002/spe.516)Mechanisms for secure modularprogramming in JavaLujo Bauer Andrew W. Appel and Edward W. FeltenDepartment of Computer Science Princeton University 35 Olden Street Princeton NJ 08544 U.S.A.SUMMARYWe present a new module system for Java that improves upon many of the deficiencies of the Javapackage system and gives the programmer more control over dynamic linking. Our module system providesexplicit interfaces multiple views of modules based on hierarchical nesting and more flexible namespacemanagement than the Java package system. Relationships between modules are explicitly specified inmodule description files. We provide more control over dynamic linking by allowing import statementsin module description files to require that imported modules be annotated with certain properties whichwe implement by digital signatures. Our module system is compatible enough with standard Java to beimplemented as a sourcetosource and bytecodetobytecode transformation wrapped around a standardJava compiler using a standard Java virtual machine (JVM). Copyright c 2003 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.KEY WORDS: information hiding; abstract data types; computer security; hierarchical module system; namespace management; dynamic linking; Java1. INTRODUCTIONThe traditional method of providing softwarebased protection within a program is by using abstractdata types and information hiding. These methods have been used extensively to make sure that objectscan be written in ways that allow outsiders only carefully controlled access to their implementationdetails.Hiding the implementations and private interfaces of objects or classes provides for informationhiding on too finegrained a scale. We argue that the building blocks of todays objectoriented softwaresystems however are not objects or classes but modules. Modules must provide a framework forinformatio ...