Aspect

An Aspect is a condition, property, or Concern examined across multiple Model Elements or behaviors. It centers on Quality Attributes and may include cross-cutting conditions that are not adequately expressed by a Quality Attribute alone.

SimpleModeling treats Quality Attribute as one kind of Aspect. CBD Support extracts the small number of Aspects that are not adequately represented by Quality Attributes into an internal review-support Model and manages their mappings to relevant Use Cases, Model elements, behaviors, and implementation. Developers examine cross-cutting conditions and impact during review rather than manipulating Aspect directly.

Aspect here is not synonymous with a particular Aspect-Oriented Programming mechanism or with a View. An Aspect is a cross-cutting Concern, while a View selects and visualizes the Model elements needed for that Concern. Its CBD Support representation exists for review and traceability and is not treated as a CML element or public API that developers edit directly.