Term Definition: analysis mechanism

An architectural mechanism used early in the design process, during the period of discovery when key classes and subsystems are being identified. Typically analysis mechanisms capture the key aspects of a solution in a way that is implementation independent. Analysis mechanisms are usually unrelated to the problem domain, but instead are "computer science" concepts. They provide specific behaviors to a domain-related class or component, or correspond to the implementation of cooperation between classes and/or components. They may be implemented as a framework. Examples include mechanisms to handle persistence, inter-process communication, error or fault handling, notification, and messaging, to name a few.