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International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems

MODELS 2013: Model-Driven Engineering Languages and Systems pp 352–369Cite as

Composing Your Compositions of Variability Models

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 8107))

Abstract

Modeling and managing variability is a key activity in a growing number of software engineering contexts. Support for composing variability models is arising in many engineering scenarios, for instance, when several subsystems or modeling artifacts, each coming with their own variability and possibly developed by different stakeholders, should be combined together. In this paper, we consider the problem of composing feature models (FMs), a widely used formalism for representing and reasoning about a set of variability choices. We show that several composition operators can actually be defined, depending on both matching/ merging strategies and semantic properties expected in the composed FM. We present four alternative forms and their implementations. We discuss their relative trade-offs w.r.t. reasoning, customizability, traceability, composability and quality of the resulting feature diagram. We summarize these findings in a reading grid which is validated by revisiting some relevant existing works. Our contribution should assist developers in choosing and implementing the right composition operators.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Rennes 1, Inria/Irisa, France

    Mathieu Acher, Benoit Combemale & Olivier Barais

  2. I3S Laboratory CNRS, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France

    Philippe Collet & Philippe Lahire

  3. Colorado State University, USA

    Robert B. France

Authors
  1. Mathieu Acher
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  2. Benoit Combemale
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  3. Philippe Collet
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  4. Olivier Barais
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  5. Philippe Lahire
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  6. Robert B. France
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Departamento de Informática, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal

    Ana Moreira

  2. Institut für Mathematik, fortiss / Technische Universität München, Guerickestraße 25, 80805, München, Germany

    Bernhard Schätz

  3. Department of Computer Science, University of Alabama, Box 870290, 35487-0290, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Jeff Gray

  4. ETSI Informática, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, Bulevar Louis Pasteur 35, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Antonio Vallecillo

  5. School of Computing and Information Sciences, College of Engineering and Computing, Florida International University, 33199, Miami, FL, USA

    Peter Clarke

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Acher, M., Combemale, B., Collet, P., Barais, O., Lahire, P., France, R.B. (2013). Composing Your Compositions of Variability Models. In: Moreira, A., Schätz, B., Gray, J., Vallecillo, A., Clarke, P. (eds) Model-Driven Engineering Languages and Systems. MODELS 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8107. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41533-3_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41533-3_22

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-41532-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-41533-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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