Feature Engineering
Carlton Reid Turner, Alexander L. Wolf, Alfonso Fuggetta, Luigi Lavazza · 1998
The notion of feature is widely used to denote the functional structure and visible properties of a software system. More specifically, features are meant to represent a user-centric organization of a software system 's functionality. Yet, other than during requirements analysis, features are seldom treated explicitly by most existing tools and methods. This paper argues that a feature-orientation can provide benefits to software developers throughout the software life cycle. We envisage specific applications of the notion of feature that provide a powerful and unifying structure for software life cycle artifacts and activities. We discuss the problems and issues to be addressed, a brief summary of our current research work, and suggestions and directions for future research in a new area we call "feature engineering". 1 Features in Software Systems Software engineering provides concepts and mechanisms that seek to master the complexity of software development activities. Such compl...