Dependency based Technique for Identifying the Ripple Effect of Requirements Evolution

Requirements evolve continuously and inevitably. In order to effectively manage requirements change, an understa- nding from a quantitative perspective is needed in determining the extent of the propagation of the requirements as they evolve. In this paper, we first look back at the impact analysis in the software life cycle and give an overview of requirements dependencies. We present a generic algorithm for identifying requirements dependencies and the definitions that are adopted for this study.Using matrix theory on the requirements dependencies, we present the formulas of the ripple effects of requirements evolution and their properties. A typical example in structured analysis of M.Jackson is described to show the effectiveness of the method presented here.