Concerns in a Requirements Model— A Small Case

Concerns are introduced into the software development process with the beginning of requirements engineering. Even simple requirements statements and use-case descriptions can give rise to substantial concern models. These models can exhibit features relating to the occurrence and distribution of concerns of different domains and types, of shared versus unique concerns, and of explicit versus implicit concerns. In the way that concerns are organized, shared, and viewed, these models exhibit aspectual features and multiple dimensions. Early-stage concern modeling has many potential applications. It can lead to better understanding and more systematic treatment of concerns from the first stages of development and it may help to identify reusable elements during requirements analysis. It can facilitate the formulation of alternative views and representations of requirements, and it should support the development of compositional technologies for requirements. Concernmodeling of requirements can also support the more systematic and effective use of concern modeling and aspect-oriented technologies downstream in the life cycle. 1