Formalization and analysis of quantitative attributes of distributed systems

While there is not much discussion on the importance of formally describing and analyzing quantitative requirements in the process of software construction; in the paradigm of API-based software systems, it could be vital. Quantitative attributes can be thought of as attributes determining the Quality of Service - QoS provided by a software component published as a service. In this sense, they play a determinant role in classifying software artifacts according to specific needs stated as requirements. In this work, we present a research program consisting of the development of formal languages and tools to characterize and analyze the Quality of Service attributes of software components in the context of distributed systems. More specifically, our main motivational scenario lays on the execution of a service-oriented architecture.