A Model-Based Approach to Impact Analysis Using Model Differencing

Impact analysis is concerned with the identification of consequences of changes and is therefore an importantactivity for software evolution. In model-based software development, models are core artifacts,which are often used to generate essential parts of a software system.Changes to a model can thus substantially affect different artifacts of a softwaresystem. In this paper, we propose a model-based approach to impact analysis, in whichexplicit impact rules can be specified in a domain specific language (DSL). These impact rules define consequences of designated UML classdiagram changes on software artifacts and the need of dependent activitiessuch as data evolution. The UML class diagram changes are identified automaticallyusing model differencing. The advantage of using explicit impact rules is thatthey enable the formalization of knowledge about a product.By explicitly defining this knowledge, it is possible to create a checklistwith hints about development steps that are (potentially) necessary to managethe evolution. To validate the feasibility of our approach, we provide resultsof a case study