Aspect-oriented modeling approaches and aspect code generation

Abstract

The integration of aspect oriented modeling approaches with model-driven engineering process achieved through their direct transformation into aspect-oriented code can enhance the software development from many perspectives. However, since no aspect modeling technique has been adopted as the standard so far, it becomes imperative to compare all existing techniques on the basis of some appropriate criteria. This study aims to assess existing UMLbased aspect-oriented modeling techniques from the perspective of their suitability with regards to integration into model-driven engineering process through aspect-oriented code generation. For this purpose, an evaluation framework has been defined and employed to evaluate 14 wellpublished, UML-based aspect-oriented modeling approaches. Results of this comparison show that a majority of these approaches works well to handle the basic modeling tasks. However, in the context of their integration into model-driven engineering process, these approaches need to be improved from various perspectives.