Abstract
Over the years, various thinking frameworks have been developed to address sustainability as a quality property of software-intensive systems. Notwithstanding, which quality concerns should be selected in practice that have a significant impact on sustainability remains a challenge.
In this experience report, we propose the notion of variability features, i.e., specific software features which are implemented in a number of possible alternative variants, each with a potentially different impact on sustainability. We extended sustainability decision maps to incorporate these variability features into an already existing thinking framework.
Our findings were derived from a qualitative case study and evaluated in an industrial context. Data was collected by analysing a real-world application and conducting working sessions together with expert interviews.
The variability features allowed us to identify and evaluate alternative usage scenarios of one real-world software-intensive system, enabling data-driven sustainability choices and suggestions for professional practices. By providing concrete measurements, we can support software architects at design time, and decision makers towards achieving sustainability goals.
In this experience report, we propose the notion of variability features, i.e., specific software features which are implemented in a number of possible alternative variants, each with a potentially different impact on sustainability. We extended sustainability decision maps to incorporate these variability features into an already existing thinking framework.
Our findings were derived from a qualitative case study and evaluated in an industrial context. Data was collected by analysing a real-world application and conducting working sessions together with expert interviews.
The variability features allowed us to identify and evaluate alternative usage scenarios of one real-world software-intensive system, enabling data-driven sustainability choices and suggestions for professional practices. By providing concrete measurements, we can support software architects at design time, and decision makers towards achieving sustainability goals.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 2023 IEEE 20th International Conference on Software Architecture Companion (ICSA-C) |
| Pages | 54-60 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781665464598 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 13 Mar 2023 |
Funding
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 871342. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 871342.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | |
| H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions | 871342 |
| Horizon 2020 |
Keywords
- software architecture
- software sustainability
- case study
- variability features
- lessons learned
