Main Description |
A Design Subsystem is a part of a system that encapsulates behavior, exposes a set of interfaces, and
packages other model elements. From the outside, a subsystem is a single design model element that collaborates with
other mod elelements to fulfill its responsibilities. The externally visible interfaces and their behavior is referred
to as the subsystem specification. On the inside, a subsystem is a collection of model elements (design classes and
other subsystems) that realize the interfaces and behavior of the subsystem specification. This is referred to as the
subsystem realization.
The 'encapsulation' ability of design subsystems is contrasted by that of the Artifact: Design Package, which does not realize interfaces. Packages
are used primarily for configuration management and model organization, where subsystems provide additional behavioral
semantics.
|