Performance analysis of component-based applications

Abstract

Performance analysis is a software engineering activity that involves analyzing a software application with respect to performance quality attributes such as response and execution times. Performance analysis tools provide the necessary support for the analyst to monitor program execution, record and analyze performance data, and locate and understand areas of poor performance. Performance analysis methods and techniques are highly dependent on the properties of the software system to be analyzed. Product line engineering applications possess some special properties that impose constraints on the selection of the performance analysis techniques to be applied and the tools to be used. The development of a component-based reference architecture is crucial to the success of a true product line. The component-based nature facilitates the integration of components and the replacement of a component with another to meet the requirements of an instance application of the product line. In this paper, we discuss performance analysis of component-based software systems and its automation. We discuss how component-based system properties influence the selection of methods and tools used to obtain and analyze performance measures. We use a case study of the document content remastering product line to illustrate the application of a performance analysis method to component-based applications.