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Variability Patterns
Traditionally, in software engineering, development happens for single products. This is a very inefficient approach in cases where groups of products are related. Software product line engineering is about systematically developing families of related products together, as a product line. The products within a product line usually have many things in common, but also significant differences. Managing and implementing these differences can become complex because in realistic product lines, variability abounds, and it is often a cross-cutting concern. Hence, to exploit the benefits of product line engineering, it is important to systematically manage the variability between the products.
Variability denotes differences between related products in a product line. Typically one talks about variation points, where, to define a product, you need to bind each variation point. There are different ways to bind a variation point: setting a value, selecting an option or implementing a program fragment or model (we’ll talk about this in the patterns below). For each variation point, you’ll also have to define the binding time: at design time, load time, runtime, etc.
This paper is a collection of patterns for handling variability in software systems. It contains patterns for managing variability, introduces different kinds of variability, and illustrates realization of variability in implementation artifacts such as models or source code. The patterns are intended as a contribution to a more comprehensive pattern language on product line engineering.
The paper is intended to be read by architects who want to get a better grasp on managing and implementing variability. The paper does not address requirements and product management. I assume the requirements that drive the variability are known.
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