In aspect-oriented computer programming, a pointcut is a set of join points. Whenever the program execution reaches one of the join points described in the pointcut, a piece of code associated with the pointcut (called advice) is executed.

This means you can use pointcuts to describe where and when you want to execute additional code on top of the already defined behaviour. This allows you to add additional aspects to existing software or to design software with a clear separation of concerns, where you weave (merge) the different aspects into a complete application.