A Metamodel-based Classification of Variability Modeling Approaches

Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) is an emerging paradigm taking momentum that proposes to address flexibility and shorter time-to-market by maximizing software reuse. The key characteristic of SPLE is the effective modelling and management of variability, for which a number of Variability Modeling (VM) techniques have been developed during the last two decades. Therefore, understanding their commonalities and differences is important for selecting the most suitable technique. In this paper, we propose a metamodel-based classification of VM techniques gathered through a survey of relevant literature.