Analyzing dependencies in large component-based systems

Abstract

Component-based development has become an important area in the software engineering field. In spite of this, there has been little effort to understand and to manage the different forms of dependencies that can occur in systems built from components. Dependencies reflect the potential for one component to affect or be affected by the elements (e.g., other components) that compose the system. Understanding dependencies is an essential requirement to perform important tasks, such as evolution and testing, during a component-based system's life cycle. In this paper, we present a technique to analyze dependencies in large component-based systems.