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A constraint-based variability modeling framework

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Abstract

Constraint-based variability modeling is a flexible, declarative approach to managing solution-space variability. Product variants are defined in a top-down manner by successively restricting the admissible combinations of product artifacts until a specific product variant is determined. In this paper, we illustrate the range of constraint-based variability modeling by discussing two of its extreme flavors: constraint-guarded variability modeling and constraint-driven variability modeling. The former applies model checking to establish the global consistency of product variants which are built by manual specification of variations points, whereas the latter uses synthesis technology to fully automatically generate product variants that satisfy all given constraints. Each flavor is illustrated by means of a concrete case study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair for Programming Systems, Technical University Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

    Sven Jörges & Bernhard Steffen

  2. Chair for Service and Software Engineering, University Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Anna-Lena Lamprecht & Tiziana Margaria

  3. Institut für Software Systems Engineering, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

    Ina Schaefer

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  1. Sven Jörges
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  2. Anna-Lena Lamprecht
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  3. Tiziana Margaria
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  4. Ina Schaefer
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  5. Bernhard Steffen
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Correspondence to Ina Schaefer.

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Jörges, S., Lamprecht, AL., Margaria, T. et al. A constraint-based variability modeling framework. Int J Softw Tools Technol Transfer 14, 511–530 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10009-012-0254-x

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