what's new
Version 5.0 of the SEI
Framework for Software Product Line Practice Now Online
A hyperlinked Version 5.0 of the SEI Framework for Software Product Line PracticeSM is now available at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/productlines/framework.html. The Framework is a reference model that describes the essential activities and 29 practice areas necessary for successful software product lines.
The Framework, originally conceived in 1998, is a Web-based, living document that aids the software community in software product line endeavors. It is evolving based on the experience and information provided by the community. Each version of the Framework represents an incremental attempt to capture the latest information about successful software product line practices. This information has been gleaned from studies of organizations that have built product lines, from direct collaborations on software product lines with customer organizations, and from leading practitioners in software product lines.
Version 4.0 of the Framework, also published in the book Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns, has been a relatively stable baseline since 2002 and the basis for the last two releases, Versions 4.1 and 4.2.
In the last five years, the community using the Framework has grown, and the number of organizations achieving business benefits from taking a product line approach has mushroomed. At the same time, several other emerging technologies have had an impact on how software product lines can be approached. It was time to overhaul the Framework and issue a major release: Version 5.0.
There are significant changes in Version 5.0 that reflect current prevalent trends in software engineering (the open source movement, globally distributed development, service-oriented architectures, model-driven development, and agile development), as well as a wave of new product line experiences that have surfaced new practices and references. The resultant changes to the Framework include
- a discussion of contextual factors that influence core-asset development. Product contraints, production constraints, production strategy, and preexisting assets are no longer rigid "inputs" but rather contextual factors.
- more in-depth coverage of the production-plan concept
- new frequently-asked questions (FAQs)
- significant modifications to the following practice areas:
- "COTS Utilization" was changed to "Using Externally Available Software" and expanded to include open-source software and services as prominent software choices.
- "Mining Existing Assets" was expanded to include externally available software as a mining source.
- "Software System Integration" was expanded to discuss continuous, iterative integration, and closer ties have been made to production planning.
- "Testing" now includes more detailed descriptions of guidelines and test artifacts.
- "Data Collection, Measurement, and Tracking" was changed to "Measurement and Tracking" and rewritten to emphasize the goals of measurement rather than the mechanics.
- "Process Definition" was changed to "Process Discipline" and rewritten to emphasize the need for process discipline throughout, which exceeds the ability to merely define processes. This practice area was also expanded to include a treatment of agile approaches and the production process and production method for the product line.
- "Technical Planning" was expanded to provide more coverage of production planning.
- "Tool Support" was expanded to discuss tools for automating product derivation.
- "Building a Business Case" now includes an expanded discussion of using the business case to weigh alternative strategies and coverage of Boehm's economic model for product lines, Constructive Product Line Investment Model (COPLIMO).
- "Customer Interface Management" now includes a discussion of customer identification.
- "Developing an Acquisition Strategy" now covers the acquisition of services and other externally available software, as well as acquisition in a global development environment.
- "Launching and Institutionalizing" now includes a discussion of the SEI Adoption Factory pattern and more coverage of institutionalization.
- "Operations" now considers a product line concept of operations (CONOPS) to be essential.
- "Structuring the Organization" now has a clarified relationship with the "Operations" practice area.
- "Training" includes added sources of product line training.
A second edition of the book Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns, which will also include an updated version of the SEI product line practice patterns and new product line case studies, has an anticipated publication date of January 2008.
We're excited to release Version 5.0 of the Framework, and we invite you to peruse it at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/productlines/framework.html.
Added August 17, 2007; modified 8-23