1. Product Lines

2. Leveraging Architecture
Two ways to do it (at least)
Product Lines
Use the architecture and core software as a theme with variations to produce multiple products
Frameworks
“Harden” interfaces to the core software, then sell (or give) the architecture and core software to software vendors as an application platform

3. Examples Product line: MS Office
Office for Windows
Office for Windows CE
Office for Mac
Office Student and Teacher Edition
Framework: J2EE (practice calling it “Java EE 5” now)

4. Things that can be reused
Requirements
Architectural design
Elements (code, but not just code)
Modeling and analysis
Testing
Project planning
Processes, methods and tools
People
Exemplar systems
Defect elimination

5. Product Line Scope Too narrow and the investment is not worth it
Too broad and the common parts can be too hard to build or not powerful enough

6. Architecture for product lines
For the most part, designing an architecture is the same, product line or not
Additional Factors
Identifying variation points
Supporting variation points
Evaluation must include multiple products

7. What’s a variation point?
An aspect of the system in which the various products require different platform features
Example: Office runs on several operating systems
Example: Office Student and Teacher edition
Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook (not Access)
License limited to 3 PCs

8. Identifying Variation Points
Variation points can be discovered at any point in the software lifecycle, especially
Business planning
Requirements
Architecture
Implementation
Continuous process
Starts with the initial design
Can continue with each new product

9. Supporting Variation Points
Elements can be included or omitted
Include different numbers of elements
Select versions of elements

10. Supporting Variation (cont.)
OO techniques
Generalization
Polymorphism
Build extension points into the element
Build-time parameterization
Reflection – behavior based on context

11. Evaluation In addition to the normal evaluation:
Focus on variation points
Need to understand consequences of variations
Example: running on different operating systems implies differences in documentation
Example: running on Windows CE implies different optimizations

12. Problem Areas Adoption – the first hurdle!
Evolution and the forces that drive it
External vendor supplied parts
External feature demand
Internal new project needs
In the product or the platform?
Updating older products

13. Organizational Structure
Platform development team
Core assets
Buy back
Stakeholders
Business Units
Development teams
Marketing

14. summary