Abstract
The architecture of a software product line is an important artifact which represents an abstraction of the products that can be generated. It is crucial to evaluate the quality attributes of a product line architecture to improve the product line process, in terms of productivity and reduction of the time to market. The evaluation of PLA can serve as a basis to analyze the managerial and economical values of a product line for software managers and architects. Current research on the evaluation of product line architecture does not take into account metrics directly obtained from UML models and their variabilities. In this context, used metrics are difficult to be applied in general and to be used for quantitative analysis. This chapter presents a Systematic Evaluation Method for UML-based Software Product Line Architectures (SystEM-PLA), which provides a methodology to (i) estimate and analyze products; (ii) use UML-based metrics in a composition related to quality attributes; (iii) perform feasibility and trade-off analysis, and (iv) facilitate the evaluation of product line architecture. An example using the SEI’s Arcade Game Maker (AGM) software product line is presented and illustrates SystEM-PLA activities. Metrics for complexity and extensibility quality attributes are used to perform a trade-off analysis.
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OliveiraJr, E., Cordeiro, A.F.R., Gimenes, I.M.S., Maldonado, J.C. (2023). The SystEM-PLA Evaluation Method. In: OliveiraJr, E. (eds) UML-Based Software Product Line Engineering with SMarty. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18556-4_10
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