Software Performance Evaluation

Modern software systems are expected to satisfy increasingly stringent requirements for performance and scalability. To avoid the pitfalls of inadequate quality of service, it is important to evaluate the expected performance and scalability characteristics of systems during all phases of their life cycle. At every stage, performance evaluation is carried out with a specific set of goals and constraints. In this article, we present an overview of the major methods and techniques for software performance evaluation. We start by considering the different types of workload models that are typically used in performance evaluation studies. We then discuss performance measurement techniques including platform benchmarking, application profiling and system load testing. Following this, we survey the most common methods and techniques for performance modeling of software systems. We consider the major types of performance models used in practice and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we briefly discuss operational analysis as an alternative to queueing theoretic methods.