Towards a Theory of Views for Feature Models

Variability in a Software Product Line (SPL) is expressed in terms of a feature model. As software development efforts involve increasingly larger feature models, scalable techniques are required to manage their complexity. Furthermore, as many stakeholders have a vested interest in different aspects of a feature model, modularity techniques are required to independently expresses their views of the product line abstracting away from unnecessary details. To address these issues of scalability and modularity this paper introduces a theory of views for features models, encompassing both view compatibility and view reconciliation for plugging together different views of a product line. Keywords-software product lines; variability; formal methods

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