A Runtime Variability Mechanism Based on Supertypes

Current runtime variability mechanisms are still maturing, and the paradigm of dynamic software product lines demand adequate solutions based on effective dynamic variability mechanisms able to manage the variability at runtime. Today, few approaches have been proposed and tested in real dynamic software products lines. In practice, the solutions suggested can be understood as runtime managers able to deal with variability at runtime. In this approach we advance previous works and we suggest an implementation of a runtime variability mechanism using the notion of Supertypes to demonstrate the effectiveness of a previous and prove how variants and variation points can be managed at runtime. This mechanism can be used to support the evolution of dynamic software product lines.