Change impact analysis for software product lines

A software product line (SPL) represents a family of products in a given application domain. Each SPL is constructed to provide for the derivation of new products by covering a wide range of features in its domain. Nevertheless, over time, some domain features may become obsolete with the apparition of new features while others may become refined. Accordingly, the SPL must be maintained to account for the domain evolution. Such evolution requires a means for managing the impact of changes on the SPL models, including the feature model and design. This paper presents an automated method that analyzes feature model evolution, traces their impact on the SPL design, and offers a set of recommendations to ensure the consistency of both models. The proposed method defines a set of new metrics adapted to SPL evolution to identify the effort needed to maintain the SPL models consistently and with a quality as good as the original models. The method and its tool are illustrated through an example of an SPL in the Text Editing domain. In addition, they are experimentally evaluated in terms of both the quality of the maintained SPL models and the precision of the impact change management.