A search-based approach for software product line design

Abstract

The Product Line Architecture (PLA) can be improved by taking into account key factors such as feature modularization, and by continuously evaluating its design according to metrics. Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE) principles can be used to support an informed-design of PLAs. However, existing search-based design works address only traditional software design not considering intrinsic Software Product Line aspects. This paper presents MOA4PLA, a search-based approach to support the PLA design. It gives a multi-objective treatment to the design problem based on specific PLA metrics. A metamodel to represent the PLA and a novel search operator to improve feature modularization are proposed. Results point out that the application of MOA4PLA leads to PLA designs with well modularized features, contributing to improve features reusability and extensibility. It raises a set of solutions with different design trade-offs that can be used to improve the PLA design.