A Tool-Based Approach to Managing Crosscutting Feature Implementations

Software product line engineering aims to reduce development time, effort, cost and complexity by taking advantage of the commonality within a portfolio of similar products. The effectiveness of a software product line approach directly depends on how well feature variability within the portfolio is managed throughout the development lifecycle, from early analysis through maintenance and evolution. Variability of features in a product line often has widespread impact, crosscutting not only multiple parts of individual artifacts but also multiple artifacts in multiple stages of the development lifecycle. This paper presents a tool-based approach for managing crosscutting feature variability in software product lines using aspect-oriented principles. The approach makes it possible to handle multi-artifact crosscutting. For code artifacts is is even independent of the languages used for feature implementation. We report on experiences made in industrial settings, including 2006 Software Product Line Hall of Fame inductee, LSI Logic’s Engenio Storage Group.