Feature-oriented domain analysis

Last updated

Feature oriented domain analysis (FODA) is a domain analysis method which introduced feature modelling to domain engineering. FODA was developed in 1990 following several U.S. Government research projects. Its concepts have been regarded as critically advancing software engineering and software reuse.

Contents

History

Feature-oriented domain analysis was first developed by the Software Engineering Institute in 1990. [1] In the initial technical report, a study performed determined that feature oriented domain analysis was not only beneficial, but was described as a "necessary first step" for software reuse. [2] The report introduced the concept of feature models to domain engineering in an effort to represent the standard features within the family of systems in the domain as well as the relationships between those features. [3] Since then, feature models have been characterized as "the greatest contribution of domain engineering to software engineering". [4]

Much of the work leading up to the development of FODA was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense through research programs related to software reuse during the late 1980s. FODA was developed as a comprehensive analysis and refinement of technology developed from 1983–1990. [5] While some aspects of FODA have changed, and it has become integrated with model-driven engineering, FODA is still known as the method that initially introduced feature models to domain engineering. [1]

Purpose

The intent of feature-oriented domain analysis is to support functional and architectural reuse. The objective is to create a domain model which represents a family of systems which can then be refined into the particular desired system within the domain [6] To do this, the scope of the domain must be analyzed (known as FODA context analysis) to identify not only the systems in the domain but also the external systems which interact with the domain. [7] FODA feature analysis then analyzes the end-user's view of the configurable requirements and candidate systems within the domain. [8] From the developed feature model, customers can select from configurable requirements to specify a final system. [9] Through this process, feature-oriented domain analysis ensures that a business can meet customers' demands efficiently through reuse of technology. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Software architecture</span> High level structures of a software system

Software architecture refers to the fundamental structures of a software system and the discipline of creating such structures and systems. Each structure comprises software elements, relations among them, and properties of both elements and relations.

Software design is the process by which an agent creates a specification of a software artifact intended to accomplish goals, using a set of primitive components and subject to constraints. Software design may refer to either "all the activity involved in conceptualizing, framing, implementing, commissioning, and ultimately modifying complex systems" or "the activity following requirements specification and before programming, as ... [in] a stylized software engineering process."

The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is an iterative software development process framework created by the Rational Software Corporation, a division of IBM since 2003. RUP is not a single concrete prescriptive process, but rather an adaptable process framework, intended to be tailored by the development organizations and software project teams that will select the elements of the process that are appropriate for their needs. RUP is a specific implementation of the Unified Process.

Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development involves writing and maintaining the source code, but in a broader sense, it includes all processes from the conception of the desired software through to the final manifestation of the software, typically in a planned and structured process. Software development also includes research, new development, prototyping, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IDEF</span>

IDEF, initially an abbreviation of ICAM Definition and renamed in 1999 as Integration Definition, is a family of modeling languages in the field of systems and software engineering. They cover a wide range of uses from functional modeling to data, simulation, object-oriented analysis and design, and knowledge acquisition. These definition languages were developed under funding from U.S. Air Force and, although still most commonly used by them and other military and United States Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, are in the public domain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Systems development life cycle</span> Systems engineering term

In systems engineering, information systems and software engineering, the systems development life cycle (SDLC), also referred to as the application development life-cycle, is a process for planning, creating, testing, and deploying an information system. The systems development life cycle concept applies to a range of hardware and software configurations, as a system can be composed of hardware only, software only, or a combination of both. There are usually six stages in this cycle: requirement analysis, design, development and testing, implementation, documentation, and evaluation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer-aided software engineering</span>

Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) is the domain of software tools used to design and implement applications. CASE tools are similar to and were partly inspired by Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools used for designing hardware products. CASE tools were used for developing high-quality, defect-free, and maintainable software. CASE software is often associated with methods for the development of information systems together with automated tools that can be used in the software development process.

In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software, providing generic functionality, can be selectively changed by additional user-written code, thus providing application-specific software. It provides a standard way to build and deploy applications and is a universal, reusable software environment that provides particular functionality as part of a larger software platform to facilitate the development of software applications, products and solutions. Software frameworks may include support programs, compilers, code libraries, toolsets, and application programming interfaces (APIs) that bring together all the different components to enable development of a project or system.

Software prototyping is the activity of creating prototypes of software applications, i.e., incomplete versions of the software program being developed. It is an activity that can occur in software development and is comparable to prototyping as known from other fields, such as mechanical engineering or manufacturing.

The Shlaer–Mellor method, also known as Object-Oriented Systems Analysis (OOSA) or Object-Oriented Analysis (OOA) is an object-oriented software development methodology introduced by Sally Shlaer and Stephen Mellor in 1988. The method makes the documented analysis so precise that it is possible to implement the analysis model directly by translation to the target architecture, rather than by elaborating model changes through a series of more platform-specific models. In the new millennium the Shlaer–Mellor method has migrated to the UML notation, becoming Executable UML.

Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) is a technical approach for analyzing and designing an application, system, or business by applying object-oriented programming, as well as using visual modeling throughout the software development process to guide stakeholder communication and product quality.

In software engineering, domain analysis, or product line analysis, is the process of analyzing related software systems in a domain to find their common and variable parts. It is a model of wider business context for the system. The term was coined in the early 1980s by James Neighbors. Domain analysis is the first phase of domain engineering. It is a key method for realizing systematic software reuse.

Domain engineering, is the entire process of reusing domain knowledge in the production of new software systems. It is a key concept in systematic software reuse and product line engineering. A key idea in systematic software reuse is the domain. Most organizations work in only a few domains. They repeatedly build similar systems within a given domain with variations to meet different customer needs. Rather than building each new system variant from scratch, significant savings may be achieved by reusing portions of previous systems in the domain to build new ones.

Product-family engineering (PFE), also known as product-line engineering, is based on the ideas of "domain engineering" created by the Software Engineering Institute, a term coined by James Neighbors in his 1980 dissertation at University of California, Irvine. Software product lines are quite common in our daily lives, but before a product family can be successfully established, an extensive process has to be followed. This process is known as product-family engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enterprise modelling</span>

Enterprise modelling is the abstract representation, description and definition of the structure, processes, information and resources of an identifiable business, government body, or other large organization.

In requirements engineering, requirements elicitation is the practice of researching and discovering the requirements of a system from users, customers, and other stakeholders. The practice is also sometimes referred to as "requirement gathering".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IDEF4</span>

IDEF4, or Integrated DEFinition for Object-Oriented Design, is an object-oriented design modeling language for the design of component-based client/server systems. It has been designed to support smooth transition from the application domain and requirements analysis models to the design and to actual source code generation. It specifies design objects with sufficient detail to enable source code generation.

In software development, a feature model is a compact representation of all the products of the Software Product Line (SPL) in terms of "features". Feature models are visually represented by means of feature diagrams. Feature models are widely used during the whole product line development process and are commonly used as input to produce other assets such as documents, architecture definition, or pieces of code.

In software engineering, a software development process is a process of dividing software development work into smaller, parallel, or sequential steps or sub-processes to improve design, product management. It is also known as a software development life cycle (SDLC). The methodology may include the pre-definition of specific deliverables and artifacts that are created and completed by a project team to develop or maintain an application.

Knowledge-based configuration, or also referred to as product configuration or product customization, is an activity of customising a product to meet the needs of a particular customer. The product in question may consist of mechanical parts, services, and software. Knowledge-based configuration is a major application area for artificial intelligence (AI), and it is based on modelling of the configurations in a manner that allows the utilisation of AI techniques for searching for a valid configuration to meet the needs of a particular customer.

References

  1. 1 2 Czarnecki, p.44
  2. ↑ Kang, p.93
  3. ↑ Kang, p.42
  4. ↑ Czarnecki, p.82
  5. ↑ Czarnecki, p.57
  6. ↑ Kang, p.26
  7. ↑ Kang, p.36
  8. ↑ Kang, p.40
  9. ↑ Kang, p.43
  10. ↑ Czarnecki, p.43

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.