An Algebraic Foundation for Automatic Feature-Based Program Synthesis

kaestner@cs.cmu.edu (S. Apel, C. Lengauer, B. Möller, C. Kästner)
Sat, 05 Mar 2016 18:41:39 -0500

Sven Apel, Christian Lengauer, Bernhard Möller, and Christian Kästner. An Algebraic Foundation for Automatic Feature-Based Program Synthesis. Science of Computer Programming (SCP), 75(11):1022--1047, November 2010.

Feature-Oriented Software Development (FOSD) provides a multitude of formalisms, methods, languages, and tools for building variable, customizable, and extensible software. Along different lines of research, different notions of a feature have been developed. Although these notions have similar goals, no common basis for evaluation, comparison, and integration exists. We present a feature algebra that captures the key ideas of feature orientation and provides a common ground for current and future research in this field, in which also alternative options can be explored. Furthermore, our algebraic framework is meant to serve as a basis for the upcoming development paradigms automatic feature-based program synthesis and architectural metaprogramming.