A Critical Analysis of Using Feature Models for Variability Management

The managing of variability across products in a software product line is one of the most important tasks for successful product line engineering. Due to a large number of publications, feature modeling seems to be a popular approach used for dealing with variability in product lines. Such popularity may lead to the assumption that feature modeling is a universal approach used for the management of variability. We require a universal approach to be consistent and scalable; it should provide traceability between variations at different levels of abstraction and across various development artifacts; and there should be a means for visualizing variability. When critically analyzing the feature model and some methods using it for variability management, it was realized that many uncertainties and ambiguities exist. In this paper, we identify the need for a variability management approach that provides the underlying support for feature modeling by fulfilling all the necessary requirements of a universal approach.