Software product line testing – A systematic mapping study

Context: Software product lines (SPL) are used in industry to achieve more efficient software development. However, the testing side of SPL is underdeveloped. Objective: This study aims at surveying existing research on SPL testing in order to identify useful approaches and needs for future research. Method: A systematic mapping study is launched to find as much literature as possible, and the 64 papers found are classified with respect to focus, research type and contribution type. Results: A majority of the papers are of proposal research types (64%). System testing is the largest group with respect to research focus (40%), followedbymanagement (23%).Method contributions are inmajority. Conclusions: Morevalidationandevaluation research isneeded toprovide a better foundation for SPL testing. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.