Next steps in variability management due to autonomous behaviour and runtime learning
Nelly Bencomo · 2020
One of the basic principles in product lines is to delay design decisions related to offered functionality and quality to later phases of the life cycle [25]. Instead of deciding on what system to develop in advance, a set of assets and a common reference architecture are specified and implemented during the Domain Engineering process. Later on, during Application Engineering, specific systems are developed to satisfy the requirements reusing the assets and architecture [16]. Traditionally, this is during the Application Engineering when delayed design decisions are solved. The realization of this delay relies heavily on the use of variability in the development of product lines and systems. However, as systems become more interconnected and diverse, software architects cannot easily foresee the software variants and the interconnections between components. Consequently, a generic a priori model is conceived to specify the system's dynamic behaviour and architecture. The corresponding design decisions are left to be solved at runtime [13].