VisArch: visualisation of performance-based architectural refactorings

Abstract

Evaluating the performance characteristics of software architectures is not trivial since many factors, such as workload fluctuations and service failures, contribute to large variations. To reduce the impact of these factors, architectures are refactored so that their design becomes more robust and less prone to performance violations. This paper proposes an approach for visualizing the impact, from a performance perspective, of different performance-based architectural refactorings that are inherited by the specification of performance antipatterns. A case study including 64 performance-based architectural refactorings is adopted to illustrate how the visual representation supports software architects in the evaluation of different architecture design alternatives.