![](bg6.png)
5 CONCLUSIONS
This paper presented the results of a comparative
study of compositional and annotational modeling
approaches of software process lines. Two modern
approaches were selected: (i) EPF Composer –
representing the compositional approach and (ii)
GenArch-P – representing the annotational
approach. These two investigated approches were
used to specify a non-trivial Open-UP processes
line.
Our study adopted a comparison criteria
previously adopted in the analysis of the
implementation techniques of software product lines
(Kästner, 2010). Based on the results of the study, it
can be concluded that the annotational approach
obtained better results in the software processes lines
definition. In five of the seven defined criteria, the
GenArch-P presented better results, which are: (i)
traceability, (ii) error detection, (iii) uniformity, (iv)
adoption, and (v) systematic variability
management. The EPF Composer had better results
in the modularity criterion, which reinforces one of
the known strengths of compositional approaches. In
the granularity criterion, the EPF Composer
approach had also better results, due to the variety of
variability mechanisms provided.
The study illustrated that annotative and
compositional approaches have their own strengths
and limitations defining software process lines, and
both are valid alternatives. The possible integration
of the compositional and annotative approaches can
combine the strengths of these two approaches and
will be investigated in future work.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was partially supported by the National
Institute of Science and Technology for Software
Engineering (INES) - CNPq under grants
573964/2008-4 and CNPQ 560256/2010-8.
REFERENCES
Aleixo, F. A., Freire, M. A. & Kulesza, U., 2012. Software
Process Lines. [Online] Available at: https://sites.
google.com/site/softwareprocesslines/ [Accessed 27
January 2012].
Aleixo, F. A., Freire, M. A., Santos, W. C. d. & Kulesza,
U., 2010. A Model-driven Approach to Managing and
Customizing Software Process Variabilities. In 12th
ICEIS. Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, 2010. SciTePress.
Aleixo, F. A., Freire, M. A., Santos, W. C. d. & Kulesza,
U., 2010. Automating the Variability Management,
Customization and Deployment of Software
Processes: A Model-Driven Approach. Lecture Notes
in Business Information Processing, pp.372-87.
Armbrust, O. et al., 2009. Scoping software process lines.
Software Process: Improvement and Practice, 14-3,
pp.181-97.
Barreto, A., Duarte, E., Rocha, A. R. & Murta, L., 2010.
Supporting the Definition of Software Processes at
Consulting Organizations via Software Process Lines.
In 7th QUATIC. Porto, Portugal, 2010. IEEE
Computer Society.
Cirilo, E., Kulesza, U. & Lucena, C. J. P. d., 2008. A
Product Derivation Tool Based on Model-Driven
Techniques and Annotations. The Journal of Universal
Computer Science, 14-8, pp.1344-67.
EPF, 2012. Eclipse Process Framework Project (EPF).
[Online] Available at: http://www.eclipse.org/epf/
[Accessed 27 January 2012].
Kang, K. C. et al., 1990. Feature-oriented domain analysis
(FODA) feasibility study. SEI.
Kästner, C., 2010. Virtual Separation of Concerns:
Toward Preprocessors 2.0. Magdeburg, Germany:
Dissertation, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität.
Kästner, C. & Apel, S., 2008. Integrating Compositional
and Annotative Approaches for Product Line
Engineering. In GPCE Workshop on Modularization,
Composition and Generative Techniques for Product
Line Engineering (McGPLE). Passau, Germany, 2008.
University of Passau.
Kästner, C., Apel, S. & Kuhlemann, M., 2008. Granularity
in software product lines. In ICSE., 2008.
Martínez-Ruiz, T., García, F., Piattini, M. & Münch, J.,
2011. Modelling Software Process Variability: an
Empirical Study. IET Software, 5 (2), pp.172-87.
Pohl, K., Böckle, G. & Linden, F. v. d., 2005. Software
product line engineering: foundations, principles, and
techniques. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlang.
Rombach, H. D., 2005. Integrated Software Process and
Product Lines. In ISPW. Beijing, China, 2005.
Springer.
Simidchieva, B. I., Clarke, L. A. & Osterweil, L. J., 2007.
Representing Process Variation with a Process Family.
In ICSP. Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2007. Springer.
Simmonds, J. & Bastarrica, M. C., 2011. Modeling
Variability in Software Process Lines. Santiago, Chile:
Universidad de Chile.
Ternité, T., 2009. Process Lines: A Product Line
Approach Designed for Process Model Development.
In 35th Euromicro Conference on Software
Engineering and Advanced Applications. Patras,
Greece, 2009. IEEE Computer Society.
Washizaki, H., 2006. Building Software Process Line
Architectures from Bottom Up. In PROFES.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2006. Springer.
ModularizingSoftwareProcessLinesusingModel-drivenApproaches-AComparativeStudy
125