Tackling Erosion in Variant-Rich Software Systems: Challenges and Approaches

Abstract: Software product lines (SPL) have emerged as a pivotal paradigm in software engineering, enabling the efficient development of variant-rich software systems. Consistently updating these systems, often through over-the-air updates, enables the continuous integration of new features and bug fixes, ensuring the system remains up to date throughout its entire lifecycle. However, evolving such complex systems is an error prone task, leading to a phenomenon known as erosion. This phenomenon significantly impacts the efficiency and longevity of software systems, presenting a formidable challenge for manufacturers of variant-rich software systems, such as in the automotive domain. While existing studies concentrate on the evolutionary planning of variant-rich software systems, there is a noticeable lack of research addressing the problem of erosion. In this paper, we conduct an in-depth exploration of the erosion phenomena within variant-rich software systems. We begin by highlighting the significance of controlling erosion in extensive variant-rich software systems. Subsequently, we address the current challenges regarding tackling erosion, including issues such as the lack of a consensus on understanding and defining erosion, as well as the early detection and elimination. Finally, we outline a first approach aimed at tackling erosion in variant-rich software systems.