A software product line epitomizes strategic, planned reuse. More than a new technology, it is a new way of doing business that can yield order-of-magnitude improvements in time to market, cost, and quality.
A software product line (SPL) is a set of software-intensive systems that share a common, managed set of features satisfying the specific needs of a particular market segment or mission and that are developed from a common set of core assets in a prescribed way.
Software product lines are emerging as a viable and important development paradigm allowing companies to realize order-of-magnitude improvements in time to market, cost, productivity, quality, and other business drivers. Software product line engineering can also enable rapid market entry and flexible response, and provide a capability for mass customization.
We are working to make software product line practice a dependable low-risk high-payoff practice that combines the necessary business and technical approaches to achieve success. If you would like to gain expertise in these practices, see training in product lines.
Product lines can help organizations overcome the problems caused by resource shortages. Organizations of all types and sizes have discovered that a product line strategy, when skillfully implemented, can produce many benefits—and ultimately give the organizations a competitive edge. Example organizational benefits include:
Spotlight on Software Product Lines
Library
Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns
SEI Software Product Line Curriculum
Managing Variation in Services in a Software Product Line Context
Exploring Acquisition Strategies for Adopting a Software Product Line
Software Product Lines: Report of the 2010 U.S. Army Software Product Line Workshop
Courses