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Journal of Software Engineering

Year: 2017 | Volume: 11 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 12-21
DOI: 10.3923/jse.2017.12.21
Software Evolution: A Features Variability Modeling Approach
Sumaya Ibraheem and Said Ghoul

Abstract: Background: Software Product Lines (SPLs) have been used successfully for building software systems families. One of techniques that are widely used to support SPL’s variability modelling is feature modelling. These methods have been used to recognize and manage commonalities and variability among products. But like anything in this world, software systems families are rapidly changing and demanding for more dynamic capabilities. Materials and Methods: One of the challenging problems of dynamic SPLs is that feature modelling techniques are unable to support dynamic capabilities and their formalization. In fact, feature modelling techniques support well elementary features, but the composed ones are not yet supported nor formalized. This study aims to deal with this challenge. It extends the conventional elementary feature modelling concepts, with composed feature and inherent relations concepts. According to bio-inspired approach, a software configuration comes up by composing its features from elementary or any other composed features. Then this configuration may evolve through its life cycle by metamorphosing, changing from a composed feature to another. Results: This software feature-based evolution variability modelling technique has led to an introduction of a new methodology producing an extended feature model by new meta features and relations. The combination of two formalisms in the specification of this methodology is more powerful than a unique one. Conclusion: The obtained results compared to the actual approaches seem to be promising. The bio-inspired software evolution has led to identify weaknesses of currents feature-based evolution approaches. The introduction of new powerful feature modelling concepts and supporting formal approach, inspired from nature is expected to promote the software evolution.

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How to cite this article
Sumaya Ibraheem and Said Ghoul, 2017. Software Evolution: A Features Variability Modeling Approach. Journal of Software Engineering, 11: 12-21.

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