Product Line Evolution Using Source Packages

We present a language-independent approach for product line initiation and evolution. Our approach is based on a decomposition of a product line into packages. These packages constitute the build time variation points of the product line. They can be configured, selected, combined, and extended in order to yield tailormade products for individual customers. In order to reduce initial investment involved in product line adoption, we propose an incremental method for designing the product line package structure. At each iteration, we analyze the variability required by the existing and currently anticipated products, and we recover the variability offered by the actual product line implementation, Given these two, we design a target package decomposition offering the required variability, as well as a migration path to arrive at this target from the current product line implementation. The proposed approach is illustrated using a commercial product line in the area of documentation generation for legacy systems.