Advanced, Tool-Driven Variability Mechanisms

There are several attempts to support the development and management of feature-oriented product lines by means of tool support that exceeds traditional tools such as preprocessors, build systems, and version control systems. They typically build on concepts of build systems and conditional compilation, but provide tool support that goes beyond traditional systems. Most tool-driven solutions are available only in academic prototypes yet. We introduce three classes of tools that build on one another in Sects. 7.1–7.3, and discuss their strengths and weaknesses in Sect. 7.4.