A series of choices variability in the development process

ABSTRACT

Software variability is "the ability of a software artifact to vary its behavior at some point in its life cycle" [12]. Almost every software artifact requires some type of variability. While variability is endemic to the creation of software it is rarely the direct focus of study. In addition, software systems have shown an increasing amount of variability in recent years. This work provides an analysis of the decisions involved in providing variability at a specific point in a product. A classification scheme and related choice model is provided that describes the decisions related to variability, making them more explicit and quantifiable.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
        D.2.13 Reusable Software
      D.2.9 Management

General Terms:
Design, Economics

Keywords:
modeling