About

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 4^th 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 a platform for exchanging new ideas and fostering future research collaborations and synergies.

Topics and Goals

VariVolution'21 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 specifc 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.

Program

VariVolution 2021 will be held as a workshop at SPLC 2021.

Keynote

We are happy to announce that Norbert Siegmund Stefan Mühlbauer will give a keynote on 'Performance Evolution in Configurable Systems'.

Abstract

Today, one can hardly imagine any complex software system that is not configurable. At the same time, software is not a static entity. Instead, software evolution is one of the driving forces in software engineering. We study how performance and other quality attributes change over time and how this evolution interplays with software configuration. In this talk, I will report on our attempts of bringing both dimensions in space (configuration) and time (version history) together such that we can identify configuration-dependent performance change points and evolutionary patterns. From these insights, I will spark a discussion on future challenges in performance evolution and promising solutions.

Accepted Papers

• Elias Kuiter, Jacob Krüger and Gunter Saake. Iterative Development and Changing Requirements: Drivers of Variability in an Industrial System for Veterinary Anesthesia

• Hafiyyan Sayyid Fadhlillah, Kevin Feichtinger, Lisa Sonnleithner, Rick Rabiser and Alois Zoitl. Towards Heterogeneous Multi-Dimensional Variability Modeling in Cyber-Physical Production Systems

Tentative Schedule

VariVolution will be held Tuesday, September 7th 2021 from 15:00-18:00 BST (GMT+1)

• 15:00-15:10 Opening

• 15:10-16:10 Keynote Norbert Siegmund Stefan Mühlbauer: Performance Evolution in Configurable Systems

• 16:10-16:30 Break

• 16:30-17:00 Elias Kuiter, Jacob Krüger and Gunter Saake. Iterative Development and Changing Requirements: Drivers of Variability in an Industrial System for Veterinary Anesthesia

• 17:00-17:30 Hafiyyan Sayyid Fadhlillah, Kevin Feichtinger, Lisa Sonnleithner, Rick Rabiser and Alois Zoitl. Towards Heterogeneous Multi-Dimensional Variability Modeling in Cyber-Physical Production Systems

• 17:30-18:00 Discussion and closing

Registration

Please register via the SPLC 2021 registration system for the workshop.

Note that participation for non-speakers is free if you have an active ACM membership.

How to Submit

Important Dates

The important dates for the workshop are aligned with the general workshop due dates of SPLC:

• Workshop paper submission: June 11, 2021

• Workshop paper notification: June 29, 2021

• Final version of papers: July 9, 2021

All these times are AoE.

Submission Guidelines

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]{acmart}

\acmConference[SPLC’21]{25th ACM International Systems and Software Product Lines Conference}{06–11 September, 2021}{Leicester, UK}

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=splc2021

This year, you submit via the SPLC EasyChair instance. Click on New Submission and select the "4th W. on Variability and Evolution of Software-intensive Systems" to submit to this workshop.

Paper Categories (Maturity of Presented Work)

The workshop allows 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.

Review Process

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.

Committees

Organizing Committee

• Lea Gerling (University of Hildesheim, DE)

• Sandra Greiner (IT University of Copenhagen, DK)

• Kristof Meixner (TU Wien, AT)

• Gabriela Karoline Michelon (Johannes Kepler University Linz, AT)

Program Committee

• Sofia Ananieva (FZI Research Center for Information Technology)

• Wesley K. G. Assunção (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro)

• Lidia Fuentes (University of Malaga)

• Paul Gazzillo (University of Central Florida)

• Paul Grünbacher (Johannes Kepler University Linz)

• Marianne Huchard (Université de Montpellier et CNRS)

• Thomas Leich (Metop Research Institute)

• Yi Li (Nanyang Technological University)

• Lukas Linsbauer (Technical University of Braunschweig)

• Natsuko Noda (Shibaura Institute Of Technology)

• Rick Rabiser (Johannes Kepler University Linz)

• Leopoldo Teixeira (Federal University of Pernambuco)

• Mahsa Varshosaz (IT University of Copenhagen)

• Bernhard Westfechtel (University of Bayreuth)

Steering Committee

• Thorsten Berger (Chalmers | University of Gothenburg, SE)

• Timo Kehrer (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, DE)

• Klaus Schmid (University of Hildesheim, DE)

Contact

For further questions about the workshop, feel free to contact the workshop organizers:

Lea Gerling, Sandra Greiner, Kristof Meixner, Gabriela Karoline Michelon

Photo: The Fielding Johnson Building at the University of Leicester, NotFromUtrecht shared under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons