Pragmatic Methods for Commercial Software Product Line Engineering Practice

Abstract

The current generation of software product line (SPL) engineering success stories is being driven by a new generation of methods, tools and techniques. In this tutorial, we explore the latest in the ongoing evolution of SPL best practices that make it easier to adopt an SPL engineering approach and that make it more efficient to achieve optimal benefits over the long term.

The goal of the tutorial is to enable attendees to gain a better and simpler understanding of SPL concepts and practice, based on the latest experiences and advances in the 3-Tiered SPL Methodology and the Unified SPL Lifecycle Framework.  These pragmatic SPL concepts represent current advances in SPL practice and are based on observations and firsthand experiences during deployments and operation of the latest generation of successful commercial SPL practices,including Lockheed Martin and HomeAway, as well as highly acclaimed Software Product Line Hall of Fame inductees Salion and LSI Logic/Engenio. The 3-Tiered SPL Methodology and Unified SPL Lifecycle Framework have supported full scale operational transitions to software product line practice, involving hundreds of software engineers, millions of lines of source code and requirements, and billions of dollars in commercial product lines.

The target audience for this tutorial is (1) practitioners from industry settings who are interested in the most efficient, effective and proven methods for transitioning to and sustaining software product line practice, and (2) members of the research community who are interested in the new methods emerging from proven industry successes. The tutorial is suitable for all levels, ranging from SPL novices who want to learn how SPL engineering is an improvement over conventional approaches, to experienced SPL practitioners who want to learn about new advances in SPL best practices.

Attendees will learn very advanced and yet very practical concepts in the 3-Tiered SPL Methodology and the Unified SPL Lifecycle Framework that are yielding order-of-magnitude improvements in time-to-market, engineering cost, product quality, and portfolio scalability. It features best practices including minimally-invasive and agile strategies, reactive product and core asset scoping, software mass customization sans application engineering, bounded product line combinatorics, model-driven and aspect-oriented integrations with SPL, and technology integration framework for end-to-end software product line lifecycle management.

The case studies and demonstrations featured in the tutorial will provide pragmatic insights into how the latest generation of pragmatic methods, tools and techniques are enabling companies of all types and sizes to realize a new level of benefits, in terms of both technical and business impact. While these new success stories exhibit the 10x engineering improvements we have come to expect from the earlier generation, what is most unexpected is that they require up to 100x less time, cost and effort to make the transition to product line practice and to achieve return on investment.

Presenter: Charles W. Krueger

Bio:
Charles Krueger, PhD, is the founder and CEO of BigLever Software, the leading provider of software product line development tools and services. He is a thought leader in the software product line development field, with 20 years of experience in software development practice. He has proven expertise in leading commercial software product line development teams, and helping companies establish some of the industry’s most highly acclaimed software product line practices, including Salion, 2004 Software Product Line Hall of Fame inductee, and LSI Logic, 2006 Software Product Line Hall of Fame inductee. He received his PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.