Modeling Product Line Architectures through Change Sets and Relationships

Abstract

The essence of any modeling approach for product line architectures lies in its ability to express variability. Existing approaches do so by explicitly specifying variation points inside the architectural specification of the entire product line, usually with optional and alternative elements of some form. This, however, leads to a sizable mismatch between conceptual variability (i.e., the features through which architects logically view and interpret differences in product architectures) and actual variability (i.e., the modeling constructs through which the logical differences must be expressed). We contribute a new product line architecture modeling approach that unites the two. Our approach uses change sets to group related architectural differences and relationships to govern which change set combinations are valid when composed into a particular product architecture. The result lifts modeling of variability out of modeling architectural structure, consolidates related variation points, and explicitly and separately manages their compatibilities.

An Architectural Approach to Support Online Updates of Software Product Lines

“…The authors put forward the consistent integration of changes in SPL as an open research challenge in SPL engineering. Hendrickson and van der Hoek [10] point to the complexity associated with the typical mismatch between architectural variability and the actual variability. Ajila and Kaba [1] discuss an evolution process for SPL that supports local and complex (i.e.…”

Codifying architecture knowledge to support online evolution of software product lines

“…[17] argues that SPL evolution is complex process because of various interdependencies between software assets. [13] points to the complexity associated with the typical mismatch between architectural variability and the actual variability.…”

Software diversity: state of the art and perspectives

“…The old and the new component can be used together to build further components. Hendrickson et al [108] use change sets containing additions and removals of components and component connections that are applied to a base line architecture. Relationships between change sets specify which change sets may be applied together.…”