Using trade-off analysis to uncover links between functional and non-functional requirements in use-case analysis

Nonfunctional requirements, such as resource usage and performance are of principal importance because they directly affect costs and benefits of developing and deploying software. However, an approach to object oriented analysis that is use-case driven risks neglecting the analysis of nonfunctional requirements. A solution to this problem is proposed based on the observation that some nonfunctional requirements are implemented by functional requirements at a lower level. Trade-off analysis is proposed as a technique to uncover the connection between a nonfunctional requirement and the objects and methods which realize it, thereby enabling a nonfunctional requirement to be analyzed within the framework of a use-case realization.