REUSABLE SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS AND ARCHITECTURES FOR FAMILIES OF SYSTEMS

In this article, an application domain perspective is applied to software reuse. An application domain is represented by a family of systems that have some features in common and others that differentiate them. A domain model is a problem-oriented architecture that captures the similarities and variations of the family of systems that compose the application domain. Because the application domain requirements capture the composite features of the members of the family, they are categorized as kernel (required by all family members) or optional (required by some family members). It is the optional features that determine the characteristics of a given target system. The relationship between the domain requirements and the object types in the domain model are captured by means of feature/object dependencies, which define the object types and prerequisite features needed to support a given feature. Software architectures are reused by selecting those features required in a target system and then tailoring the domain model, subject to the appropriate feature/object dependencey constraints, to generate the target system specification.