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Technical Report CMU/SEI-90-TR-21 ESD-90-TR-222

Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) Feasibility Study
Kyo C. Kang Sholom G. Cohen James A. Hess William E. Novak A. Spencer Peterson November 1990

Technical Report
CMU/SEI-90-TR-21 ESD-90-TR-222 November 1990

Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) Feasibility Study
Kyo C. Kang Sholom G. Cohen James A. Hess William E. Novak A.Spencer Peterson
Domain Analysis Project

Approved for public release. Distribution unlimited.

Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the support of Capt. Patrick Carroll, USAF, for his contribution to the project, which helped make this report possible. We would also like to acknowledge thesupport and expert counsel of Bill Wood, Mario Barbacci, Len Bass, Robert Firth, and Marc Kellner of the SEI for helping to shape and clarify the ideas contained within. Thanks go also to Brad Myer of Carnegie-Mellon University for sharing his domain expertise in window management systems. Finally, we would like to thank the careful reviewers of a large document, specifically Len Bass, Robert Firth,Larry Howard, Tom Lane, Nancy Mead, Don O’Neill, Dan Roy, and Kurt Wallnau.

Executive Summary
This report describes a method for discovering and representing commonalities among related software systems. By capturing the knowledge of experts, this domain analysis method attempts to codify the thought processes used to develop software systems in a related class or domain. While domain analysissupports software reuse by capturing domain expertise, domain analysis can also support communication, training, tool development, and software specification and design. The primary focus of the method is the identification of prominent or distinctive features of software systems in a domain. These features are user-visible aspects or characteristics of the domain. They lead to the creation of aset of products that define the domain and also give the method its name: Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA). The features define both common aspects of the domain as well as differences between related systems in the domain. Features are also used to define the domain in terms of the mandatory, optional, or alternative characteristics of these related systems. This report provides adescription of the products of the domain analysis, as well as the process for generating them. The report also contrasts the FODA method with other related work. An important component of this report is a comprehensive example of the application of the method. The example demonstrates the utility of the FODA method in providing an understanding of a domain, both in terms of the scope of the domain and interms of the features and common requirements. The report also describes several technical issues raised during the development of the method. These issues will be further explored in subsequent domain analyses. This report does not cover the non-technical issues related to domain analysis, such as legal, economic, or managerial issues. The emphasis on defining process and products stems from thebelief that the non-technical issues can be fully explained only in light of specific approaches to domain analysis and to reuse in general. This report establishes one such approach. Domain analysis remains a relatively new practice. Although first proposed ten years ago, domain analysis is still a topic primarily of research groups. The report Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis can advance thestate of the practice of domain analysis by providing meaningful examples and issues for further exploration.

CMU/SEI-90-TR-21

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