An Analysis of Object Oriented Variability Implementation Mechanisms

Software variability is the capacity of software to satisfy variant requirements. Component based software engineering and reuseintense software development, such as software product line engineering, demand software components with high variability. Increased variability influences a component's utility as it can be reused in multiple applications. In this paper a review and analysis of variability implementation mechanisms is presented. It builds on earlier work on software variability by providing an analysis and a synthesis. The purpose of this work is to classify the available variability mechanisms in terms of type, scope, and the artefact to be targeted. Examples to illustrate the points under discussion are given in the form of Java code.