Supporting Component-Based Software Development Using Domain Knowledge*

Abstract A consistent implementation of component-based reusebears several implications for the design of the softwaredevelopment process. For instance, requirements engi-neering has to be tailored to particularly elicit informa-tion necessary for selecting and configuring appropriatecomponents. Concerning the development of compo-nents, a thorough analysis of the envisioned domain hasto provide the necessary information about how specificrequirements can be met. To this end, a domain modeldescribes the commonalities and variabilities of possiblesolutions. While commonalities can be mapped directlyto fixed implementations, this paper presents an approachto map requirements concerning the variabilities to con-crete component configurations. Our approach is basedon the technique of design spaces, which allows to bothcapture the variability of a domain and to formalize trans-formation rules leading from requirements to possiblesolutions. In the course of a detailed example, we demon-strate how the design space technique can be applied toprovide tool support throughout the development pro-cess.