Setting Up COTS-Based Software Product Lines

A software product line is a set of software-intensive systems sharing a common, managed set of features that satisfy the specific needs of a particular market segment or mission and are developed from a common set of core assets in a prescribed way (Clements and Northrop, 2001). Many organizations that deal in wide areas of operation, from consumer electronics, telecommunications, and avionics to information technology, are using software product lines practice, because it deals with effective utilization of software assets (Ahmed and Capretz, 2007). Although software product line is gaining popularity due to economical impacts, there has not been a great deal of research in establishing appropriate models for developing software product line from COTS. By having controlled variability and in satisfying the market demands a product line can be built around a set of COTS by analyzing the products to determine the common and variable features