spl-js-engine: a JavaScript tool to implement Software Product Lines

Abstract

In 2015, our research laboratory started the definition and implementation of a Software Product Line (SPL) for the generation of web-based Geographic Information Systems. Tooling support for SPL was scarce, and we did not found any suitable alternative to implement the mentioned product line. Therefore, we built spl-js-engine, a JavaScript library that, following the annotative approach, can generate final product source code from the annotated code, the feature model of the product line, and a product specification. spl-js-engine validates the specification of the product against the feature model prior to the generation. Since its first implementation, we have used this tool in many occasions both in the academia and the industry contexts.