A Component Model for Defining Software Product Families with Explicit Variation Points

Simone Di Cola, Cuong Tran, Kung-Kiu Lau, Chen Qian
School of Computer Science, The University of Manchester
Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
dicolas,ctran,kung-kiu,cq@cs.manchester.ac.uk

Michael Schulze
Pure-systems GmbH
Otto-von-Guericke Strasse 28
39104 Magdeburg, Germany
michael.schulze@puresystems.com

Abstract:

In software product line engineering, the construction of an ADL architecture for a product family is still an
outstanding engineering challenge. An ADL architecture for a product family would define the architectures for all the
products in the family, allowing engineers to reason at a higher level of abstraction. In this paper, we outline a component
model that can be used to define architectures for product families, by incorporating explicit variation points.