Aspect Oriented Software Development: Towards A Philosophical Basis

Object oriented software measurement has been given a foundational, theoretical basis by the research of Chidamber and Kemerer, partly based on Wand and Weber’s interpretation of the ontology of Bunge. Aspect oriented software development lacks such a sound theoretical basis, with the result that there is some confusion over what constitutes an aspect and how best to measure and assess the properties of an aspect oriented program. This paper describes Dooyeweerd’s theory of aspects which provides a theoretical basis upon which may be constructed an ontological approach to the understanding of aspect oriented programs. The paper presents an overview of Dooyeweed's theory and uses it to put forward a plan for developing an ontology for aspect oriented software development and measurement.