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Architecture Evolution in Software Product Line: An Industrial Case Study

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Top Productivity through Software Reuse (ICSR 2011)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 6727))

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Abstract

A software product line (SPL) usually involves a shared set of core assets and a series of application products. To ensure consistency, the evolution of the core assets and all the application products should be coordinated and synchronized under a unified evolution process. Therefore, SPL evolution often involves cross-product propagation and synchronization besides application derivation based on core assets, presenting quite different characteristic from the evolution of individual software products. As software architectures, including the product line architecture (PLA) and application architectures, play a central role in SPL engineering and evolution, architecture-based evolution analysis is a natural way for analyzing and managing SPL evolution. In this paper, we explore common practices of architecture evolution and the rationale behind in industrial SPL development. To this end, we conduct a case study with Wingsoft examination system product line (WES-PL), an industrial product line with an evolution history of eight years and more than 10 application products. In the case study, we reviewed the evolution history of WES-PL architecture and analyzed several typical evolution cases. Based on the historical analysis, we identify some special problems in industrial SPL practice from the aspect of architecture evolution and summarize some useful experiences about SPL evolution decisions to complement classical SPL methodology. On the other hand, we also propose some possible improvements for the evolution management in WES-PL.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Yijian Wu, Xin Peng & Wenyun Zhao

Authors
  1. Yijian Wu
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  2. Xin Peng
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  3. Wenyun Zhao
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Informatik, Universität Hildesheim, 31141, Hildesheim, Germany

    Klaus Schmid

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Wu, Y., Peng, X., Zhao, W. (2011). Architecture Evolution in Software Product Line: An Industrial Case Study. In: Schmid, K. (eds) Top Productivity through Software Reuse. ICSR 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6727. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21347-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21347-2_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21346-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21347-2

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