Report of the Reuse and Product Lines Working Group of WISR8

Paul Clements

Special Report
CMU/SEI-97-SR-010

This report summarizes the discussions held by the Reuse and Product Lines working group at the Eighth Workshop on Software Reuse (WISR8). The working group was chartered to explore the range of issues and practices necessary for the successful fielding of a software product line, which is a collection of systems that are built from a common set of core assets. Issues addressed include the relation between a product line and a domain, benefits of the product line approach to software development, organizational factors, effects of the products' domain and context, risks, the role of architecture and architects, and managing change and variation. Maintaining intellectual control was a theme that arose repeatedly during the discussion.