From aspect-oriented models to aspect-oriented code?: the maintenance perspective

Aspect-Oriented Modeling (AOM) provides support for separating concerns at the design level. Even though most AOM approaches provide means to execute the composition of the modularized concerns to obtain a composed model, it is also possible to keep the concerns modularized at the implementation level by targeting an aspect-oriented platform. Model-driven approaches have emerged to support both alternatives via tools. Clearly, these choices are not equivalent. Rather, they have a direct impact on several dimensions, including maintainability. Hence, the main research problem addressed by this work is to figure out which alternative provides for shorter maintenance time. To answer this question, we have conducted a series of quantitative studies and experiments.