Just like software in general, software product lines are permanently subject to change. This introduces evolution as a second problem dimension in addition to variability, which is the primary phenomenon addressed by software product line engineering. Traditionally, the methods and tools applied for revision control and variant management are radically different and mutually disjoint, although research has already suggested that evolution and variability can be tackled in a holistic way. Concrete examples of integrating approaches include uniform or unified versioning, delta-orientation in connection with hyper feature models, evolution-aware clone-and-own, projectional SPL editing, and variation control systems.
VariVolution (the 6th International Workshop on Variability and Evolution of Software-Intensive Systems) aims at bringing together active researchers studying software evolution and variability from different angles as well as practitioners who encounter these phenomena in real-world applications and systems. The workshop offers this year a hybrid platform for exchanging new ideas and fostering future research collaborations and synergies.
VariVolution'23 welcomes contributions on any of the following (non-exhaustive) list of topics:
Conceptual approaches and technical solutions towards uniform (chronological and logical) versioning
Variation control systems and the like
Concepts enabling software product line modernization
Evolution problems concerning specific variability mechanisms (e.g., delta-oriented, annotation-based, transformational, clone-and-own)
Tools and approaches supporting collaborative editing of variability-intensive systems
Variability- and evolution-friendly software development processes (e.g., reactive, incremental, agile)
Tools implementing previous listed concepts
Investigation and classification of real-world problems caused by combination of variability and evolution
Industrial challenges and lessons learnt
The workshop serves as a highly interactive platform for exchange, which is reflected by a diversity of submission formats ranging from original research papers over position papers to informal tool demonstrations or fully interactive sessions. The expected audience is not confined to the SPLC community; rather, we also welcome variability-relevant contributions from evolution-related fields such as software configuration management or software maintenance.
VariVolution 2023 will be held as a workshop at SPLC 2023.
13:30-13:40 — Opening - Slides
13:40-14:10 — Alexandre Bazin, Marianne Huchard, and Pierre Martin: “Analyzing Variability in Space and Time of Products from a Product Line using Triadic Concept Analysis”
14:10-14:40 — Andrea Bombarda, Silvia Bonfanti, and Angelo Gargantini: “On the Reuse of Existing Configurations for Testing Evolving Feature Models”
14:40-15:00 — Henrik Gustavsson: “Variability and Evolution of Railway Vehicle Product Lines – Challenge Related to Customer Application Specific Use Cases” - Slides
15:00-15:30 — Coffee Break
15:30-16:00 — Jacob Krüger, Alex Mikulinski, Sandro Schulze, Thomas Leich, and Gunter Saake: “DSDGen: Extracting Documentation to Comprehend Fork Merges”
16:00-16:30 — Sören Nienaber, Mohammad Divband Soorati, Arash Ghasemzadeh, and Javad Ghofrani: “Software Product Lines for Development of Evolutionary Robots”
16:30-16:50 — Mathieu Acher and Jabier Martinez: “Generative AI for Reengineering Variants into Software Product Lines: An Experience Report”
16:50-17:30 — Discussion Kick Off
17:30-18:00 — Coffee Break
18:00-18:45 — Discussion
18:45-19:00 — Result Collection & Closing - Feedback document
Andrea Bombarda, Silvia Bonfanti, and Angelo Gargantini - On the Reuse of Existing Configurations for Evolving Feature Models
Jacob Krüger, Alex Mikulinski, Sandro Schulze, Thomas Leich, and Gunter Saake - DSDGen: Extracting Documentation to Comprehend Fork Merges
Mathieu Acher and Jabier Martinez - Generative AI for Reengineering Variants into Software Product Lines: An Experience Report
Sören Nienaber, Mohammad Divband Soorati, Arash Ghasemzadeh, and Javad Ghofrani - Software Product Lines for Development of Evolutionary Robots
Alexandre Bazin, Marianne Huchard, and Pierre Martin - Analyzing Variability in Space and Time of Products from a Product Line using Triadic Concept Analysis
The important dates for the workshop are aligned with the general workshop due dates of SPLC:
Workshop paper submission: June 12, 2023 June 18, 2023 (23h59, AoE)
Workshop paper notification: July 2, 2023
Final version of papers: July 9, 2023
Workshops: August 28-29, 2023
All these times are AoE.
The workshop seeks submissions of different types and degrees of maturity in order to be inclusive of both researchers and practitioners and provide a lively platform for discussion also for early concepts and ideas.
Submissions must follow the ACM Master Article Template: https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template
Latex users are indicated to use the “sigconf” option, so they are recommended to use the template that can be found in “sample-sigconf.tex”. In this way, the following code can be placed at the start of the latex document:
\documentclass[sigconf,review]{acmart}
\acmConference[SPLC’23]{27th ACM International Systems and Software Product Lines Conference}{August 28 – September 1, 2023}{Tokyo, Japan}
Submissions need to be sent using EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=splc23 (Track: VariVolution 2023)
Note: This year, you submit via the SPLC EasyChair instance. Click on New Submission and select the Track: VariVolution 2023 to submit to this workshop.
The workshop welcomes submissions at different levels of maturity. Make sure that you select the correct category on the submission page. Papers should range from 4 to 8 pages, with at most 2 more pages only for references (i.e., 4-8 +2).
Full papers: Papers containing original work and research results. Full papers should at least present a preliminary evaluation of the contributed results. Accepted papers will be published in Volume 2 of the official SPLC proceedings.
Short papers: Papers describing ongoing work and research. Accepted papers will be published in Volume 2 of the official SPLC proceedings.
Position papers: Papers of up to one page which present an arguable opinion on a relevant topic. Accepted contributions will be presented and discussed at the workshop but will not be published in the official proceedings.
Industrial Challenges and Lessons Learnt (ICLL) papers: This type of contribution explicitly targets industry. A dedicated workshop session is reserved for presentations of industrial challenges and lessons learnt, both connected with variability and evolution. The aim of this session is to make academic researchers aware of real-world problems. Accepted presentations will not be published in the proceedings. For submission, we expect a one-page abstract.
Tool demos: Informal tool demos shall be submitted through a one page abstract of the planned demonstration which will not be published in the official proceedings. The submission may include links to supplementary online material such as downloadable software and/or tool screencasts.
Full and short papers will be peer-reviewed by at least three program committee members. Position papers, ICLL papers, and tool demos will not be peer-reviewed; the workshop organizers decide whether they are accepted or not, primarily based on their potential to stimulate interesting discussions. All accepted submissions, regardless of their level of maturity, will be given a presentation slot at the workshop.
The workshop follows a single-blind review process.
Sandra Greiner (University of Bern, Switzerland)
Kristof Meixner (TU Wien, Austria)
Xhevahire Tërnava (University of Rennes, France)
Sebastian Krieter (University of Ulm, Germany)
Wesley Assunção (JKU Linz, AT)
Inma Ayala (Universidad de Málaga, ES)
Quentin Le Dilavrec (University of Rennes, FR)
Kevin Feichtinger (JKU Linz, AT)
Jessie Galasso-Carbonnel (University of Montréal, CA)
Paul Gazzillo (University of Central Florida, US)
Djamel Khelladi (CNRS, FR)
Jabier Martinez (Tecnalia, France)
Gabriela Michelon (Marquardt GmbH, DE)
Mohammad Reza Mousavi (Kings College London, GB)
Georges Aaron Randrianaina (University of Rennes, FR)
Alexander Schultheiss (Humboldt University zu Berlin, DE)
Chico Sundermann (University of Ulm, DE)
Thorsten Berger (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, DE; Chalmers | University of Gothenburg, SE)
Timo Kehrer (University of Bern, CH)
Klaus Schmid (University of Hildesheim, DE)
For further questions about the workshop, feel free to contact the workshop organizers:
Sandra Greiner, Xhevahire Tërnava, Kristof Meixner, Sebastian Krieter
Image credit: Flickr/Derrick Brutel (CC BY-SA 2.0)