Keynote Talk III: A formal methods perspective on product line engineering

Summary form only given. A product line is a family of similar products with variations in features and functions. Product Line Engineering (PLE) is an engineering discipline for product lines using a shared set of engineering assets, a managed set of features, and an efficient means of production. It takes advantage of the commonality shared across the family while efficiently and systematically managing the variation among the products. PLE can trace its roots in software back to the 1970s; its roots in manufacturing go back centuries. But only the relatively recent (2000s or so) advent of industrial-strength automation and methodology has enabled Systems and Software PLE to emerge as a reliably repeatable engineering paradigm. It is worth studying because of the phenomenal improvements in product time to market, engineering productivity, portfolio scalability, and system quality that PLE has shown, over and over, to bring to organizations that apply it. This talk explains the fundamentals of modern PLE, shares some brief case studies, and discusses how the underpinnings of formal methods and notations are enabling PLE to achieve its remarkable results.