A genetic algorithm for optimized feature selection with resource constraints in software product lines

Software product line (SPL) engineering is a software engineering approach to building configurable software systems. SPLs commonly use a feature model to capture and document the commonalities and variabilities of the underlying software system. A key challenge when using a feature model to derive a new SPL configuration is determining how to find an optimized feature selection that minimizes or maximizes an objective function, such as total cost, subject to resource constraints. To help address the challenges of optimizing feature selection in the face of resource constraints, this paper presents GAFES, an artificial intelligence approach, based on genetic algorithms (GAs), for optimized feature selection in SPLs. Our empirical results show that GAFES can produce solutions with 86-97% of the optimality of other automated feature selection algorithms and in 45-99% less time than existing exact and heuristic feature selection techniques.