The Life Cycle of Features in Highly-Configurable Software Systems Evolving in Space and TimeVirtual
Sun 17 Oct 2021 22:05 - 22:20 at Zurich C - GPCE/SLE Session 3 Chair(s): Alex Potanin
Feature annotation based on preprocessor directives is the most common mechanism in Highly-Configurable Software Systems (HCSSs) to select the features to be included in a system variant. However, it is challenging to understand, maintain, and evolve feature fragments guarded by #ifdef directives. Yet, despite HCSSs being implemented in Version Control Systems, the support for evolving features in space and time is still challenging. To extend the knowledge on this topic, we analyze the feature life cycle in space and time. Specifically, we introduce an automated mining approach and apply it to four HCSSs, analyzing commits of their entire development life cycle (13 to 20 years and 37500 commits). This goes beyond existing studies, which investigated only differences between releases or entire systems. Our results show that features undergo frequent changes, often with substantial modifications of their code. The findings of our empirical analyses stress the need for better support of system evolution in space and time at the level of features. In addition to these analyses, we contribute with an automated mining approach for the analysis of system evolution at the level of features. Furthermore, we also make available our dataset for new studies on feature evolution in HCSSs.
Sun 17 OctDisplayed time zone: Central Time (US & Canada) change
13:50 - 15:10 | |||
13:50 15mTalk | A Variational Database Management SystemVirtual GPCE Parisa Ataei Oregon State University, Fariba Khan Oregon State University, Eric Walkingshaw Unaffiliated | ||
14:05 15mTalk | The Life Cycle of Features in Highly-Configurable Software Systems Evolving in Space and TimeVirtual GPCE Gabriela Karoline Michelon Johannes Kepler University Linz, Wesley Assunção Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), David Obermann Johannes Kepler University Linz, Lukas Linsbauer TU Braunschweig, Paul Grünbacher Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria, Alexander Egyed Johannes Kepler University Linz | ||
14:20 15mTalk | Towards Supporting SPL Engineering in Low-Code Platforms using a DSL ApproachVirtual GPCE Alexandre Bragança Institute of Engineering of Porto – Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP/IPP), Isabel Azevedo Games, Interaction and Learning Technologies (GILT) - Institute of Engineering of Porto – Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP/IPP), Nuno Bettencourt Interdisciplinary Studies Research Center (ISRC) – Institute of Engineering of Porto – Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP/IPP), Carlos Morais NumbersBelieve, Diogo Teixeira NumbersBelieve, David Caetano NumbersBelieve | ||
14:35 15mTalk | On-Stack Replacement for Program Generators and Source-to-Source CompilersVirtual GPCE | ||
14:50 20mLive Q&A | Discussion, Questions, Answers GPCE |
21:50 - 23:10 | |||
21:50 15mTalk | A Variational Database Management SystemVirtual GPCE Parisa Ataei Oregon State University, Fariba Khan Oregon State University, Eric Walkingshaw Unaffiliated | ||
22:05 15mTalk | The Life Cycle of Features in Highly-Configurable Software Systems Evolving in Space and TimeVirtual GPCE Gabriela Karoline Michelon Johannes Kepler University Linz, Wesley Assunção Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), David Obermann Johannes Kepler University Linz, Lukas Linsbauer TU Braunschweig, Paul Grünbacher Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria, Alexander Egyed Johannes Kepler University Linz | ||
22:20 15mTalk | Towards Supporting SPL Engineering in Low-Code Platforms using a DSL ApproachVirtual GPCE Alexandre Bragança Institute of Engineering of Porto – Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP/IPP), Isabel Azevedo Games, Interaction and Learning Technologies (GILT) - Institute of Engineering of Porto – Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP/IPP), Nuno Bettencourt Interdisciplinary Studies Research Center (ISRC) – Institute of Engineering of Porto – Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP/IPP), Carlos Morais NumbersBelieve, Diogo Teixeira NumbersBelieve, David Caetano NumbersBelieve | ||
22:35 15mTalk | On-Stack Replacement for Program Generators and Source-to-Source CompilersVirtual GPCE | ||
22:50 20mLive Q&A | Discussion, Questions, Answers GPCE |