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Software Product Line Architectures

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UML-Based Software Product Line Engineering with SMarty

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Abstract

The architecture of a Software Product Line (or Product Line Architecture, PLA) is one of the most important assets of a Software Product Line (SPL) as it represents an abstraction of all the products that can be generated in an SPL. Furthermore, the PLA is crucial for the development and evolution of an SPL. It represents the architecture of all potential products from a specific product line domain. The PLA addresses the SPL design decisions by explicitly representing similarities between product variants as well as the desired variability between them. A PLA differs from a single-product architecture in two aspects: (1) scope, i.e., the PLA describes broad design decisions relevant to related products for a given domain; (2) completeness, i.e., the PLA captures only parts of single products (which do not have unspecified or “variable” parts). Designing PLAs involves various activities and techniques, such as business case analysis, scope analysis, architectural design based on functionalities, and architecture transformation. When designing a PLA, it is important to explicitly accommodate variability (typically in the form of “variation points” in the architecture). Also, the design of a PLA needs to explicitly address quality attributes, such as complexity, extensibility, and reusability. These quality attributes are then used to evaluate the PLA to ensure (a) a PLA that supports product derivation and (b) a PLA that helps product variants meet the quality goals relevant in a domain (e.g., performance, security). Therefore, this chapter provides essential concepts on PLA, its design and variability issues. Finally, we present the design of a PLA aiming at illustrating the main concepts addressed in this chapter.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Brazilian funding agency CNPq (Grant 428994/2018-0)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal Institute of Bahia, Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil

    Crescencio Lima

  2. State University of Maringá, Informatics Department, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil

    Thelma Elita Colanzi & Edson OliveiraJr

  3. University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Matthias Galster

  4. Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

    Ivan Machado

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  1. Crescencio Lima
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  2. Thelma Elita Colanzi
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  3. Matthias Galster
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  4. Ivan Machado
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  5. Edson OliveiraJr
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Informatics Department, State University of Maringá, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil

    Edson OliveiraJr

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Lima, C., Colanzi, T.E., Galster, M., Machado, I., OliveiraJr, E. (2023). Software Product Line Architectures. In: OliveiraJr, E. (eds) UML-Based Software Product Line Engineering with SMarty. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18556-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18556-4_3

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