Impact analysis

Abstract

Software changes are necessary and inevitable in software development, but may lead to software deterioration if not properly controlled. Impact analysis is the activity of identifying what needs to be modified in order to make a change, or to determine the consequences on the system if the change is implemented. Most research on impact analysis is presented and discussed in literature related to software maintenance. In this chapter, we take a different approach and discuss impact analysis from a requirements engineering perspective. We relate software change to impact analysis, outline the history of impact analysis and present common strategies for performing impact analysis. We also mention the application of impact analysis to non-functional requirements and discuss tool support for impact analysis. Finally, we outline what we see as the future of this essential change management tool. © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.