48 I E E E S O F T W A R E P u b l i s h e d b y t h e I E E E C o m p u t e r S o c i e t y 0 74 0 - 74 5 9 / 1 0 / $ 2 6 . 0 0 © 2 0 1 0 I E E focus In a dynamic market environment with strin- gent time-to-market constraints, software devel- opment organizations need agility in handling changes. Agile development methods are increas- ingly used for this purpose. Agile methods such as extreme programming (XP) promote iterative development, frequent interaction with the cus- tomer, small and frequent releases, and rigorously tested code. The most important characteristic of agile development is its adaptive, responsive ap- proach to requirements changes. 2 Although much of the literature and industry practices have focused on applying either SPLE or agile methods in isolation, few studies have examined whether these two seemingly contra- dictory methods can be integrated. Most SPLE practices relate to a product family’s long-term strategic objectives, whereas agile practices focus on short-term tactical objectives of developing a single product. 3 Integrating both practices bal- ances the ability to quickly handle changes and maximize product variety. SPLE and Agile Methods A software product line is a set of software-in- tensive systems sharing a common, managed set of features, 1 developed from reusable core assets and incorporating variations to derive product variants. This involves identifying commonality and variability in the product family and imple- menting shared artifacts while preserving the ability to implement required variability. 1 Soft- ware development organizations that recognize market opportunities for products that share a signiicant number of common elements, but that also exhibit variations, can reap signiicant eco- nomic beneits with SPLE. For example, Cum- mins builds a variety of software systems for its C an software product line engineering (SPLE) be agile? This article prese successful practices that integrate SPLE and agile methods. SPLE has g considerable attention in research and practice by addressing diverse needs while controlling costs through planned reuse. 1 It typically follows a mature process involving domain and application engineering. Although SPLE ca duce cycle time in developing product variants, it involves signiicant up-front co ment in developing a lexible product platform. Top management, project managers, and developers in software development organizations can implement successful practices to integrate software product line engineering and agile development methods. Kannan Mohan, Baruch College Balasubramaniam Ramesh, Georgia State University Vijayan Sugumaran, Oakland University Integrating Software Product Line Engineering and Agile Development s o f t war e pr o duc t line s