Managing Domain Analysis in Software Product Lines with Decision Tables: An Approach for Decision Representation, Anomaly Detection and Resolution

This paper proposes an approach to managing domain analysis in Software Product Lines (SPLs) using Decision Tables (DTs) that are adapted to the unique characteristics of SPLs. The adapted DTs enable clear and explicit representation of the intricate decisions involved in deriving each software product. Additionally, a method is presented for detecting and resolving anomalies that may disrupt proper product derivation. The effectiveness of the approach is evaluated through a case study, which suggests that it has the potential to significantly reduce development time and costs for SPLs. Future research directions include investigating the integration of SAT solvers or other methods to improve specific cases of scalability and conducting empirical validation to further assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach.