Widening the scope of software product lines—from variation to composition

Abstract

Architecture, components and reuse form the key elements to build a large variety of complex, high-quality products with a short lead-time. But the balance between an architecture-driven and a component-driven approach is influenced by the scope of the product line and the characteristics of the development organization. This paper discusses that balance and claims that a paradigm shift from variation to composition is necessary to cope with an increasing diversity of products created by an ever-larger part of an organization. We illustrate our claim with various examples.