Towards flexible feature composition - static and dynamic binding in software product lines
Marko Rosenmüller · Digitalen Hochschulbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt (Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt) · 2011
Scalable software composition by reusing software assets is one of the major challenges in software engineering since many years. The goal of software product line engineering is to provide a systematic approach for reuse for a set of similar programs, called a software product line (SPL). The programs of an SPL can be distinguished in terms of features, which describe commonalities and differences between the programs. This allows SPL engineers to describe a program by listing its features. There are several SPL development techniques that support composition of assets to derive a tailor-made program according to a selection of required features. A main difference between existing techniques is their support for different feature binding times, i.e., the time at which a feature is included in a program. We can distinguish between static and dynamic binding. While static binding occurs before runtime (e.g., at compile-time), dynamic binding occurs during program start or in a running program. Both binding times have benefits and drawbacks. Static binding is used to generate