Future-oriented development of software product lines: Mapping feature models to the architecture

Software product lines (PLs) present a solid approach in large scale reuse. Due to the PLs' inherit complexity, many PL methods use the notion of "features" to support requirements analysis and domain modelling (e.g. FODA, FORM, FeatuRSEB). Nevertheless, the link between features and architecture remains weak in all methodologies, with a large impact on the traceability of high-level concerns in respect to lower-lever architectural structures. This paper provides an analysis on the state of the art of feature-oriented PL methodologies from the point of view of the linkage between feature models and architecture. Based on the identified shortcomings it introduces an approach to allow a strong mapping between features and architecture. The approach makes use of extensions in the feature modelling techniques and adopts plug-in architectures as a means of mapping feature structures and at the same time satisfying the demanded PL variability and flexibility.