Matrix-based component dependence representation and its applications in software quality assurance

Component dependence analysis is a useful technique that has many applications in software engineering activities including software understanding, testing, debugging, maintenance, and evolution. In this paper, we propose a matrix-based representation to analyze dependences in component-based system (CBSs). By further investigating the application of matrix in analyzing dependences of component-based system, we find that it has many applications in software quality assurance. To make it possible, we first identify all types of dependences in a CBS, and then present a dependence-based representation called the component dependence graph (CDG) and the dependence matrix (DM) to explicitly represent these dependences in a CBS. Based on the CDG and DM, we build a mathematical basis for managing and analyzing dependences in a CBS. Finally, we discuss some important applications of the dependence analysis technique in component-based software quality assurance, such as understanding, testing, maintenance, and evolution etc.