Mining Software Repositories and Information Visualization for Empirically Robust Testing of Variable Software

在现代软件系统中，“一刀切”已经不成立了，因为它们必须被定制以适应多样化和大量用户的需求。可变软件指的是这种类型的软件系统，它可以以多种方式进行配置，并且主要源于采用基于生成器的技术、成熟的软件产品线（SPL）方法、高级模块化范例、高度可配置的系统，或者特别的重用实践，统称为克隆和拥有。测试可变软件特别具有挑战性，因为必须测试的配置通常是大量的，这使得测试每个单独的配置变得不可行。

In modern software systems "one-size fits all" does not hold because they must be customized to fit the needs of diverse and large populations of users. Variable software refers to this type of software systems that can be configured in a large number of ways, and that stem primarily from the adoption of generator-based techniques, full-blown Software Product Line (SPL) approaches, advanced modularization paradigms, highly-configurable systems, or ad hoc reuse practices collectively called clone-and-own. Testing variable software is specially challenging because of the typically large number of configurations that must be tested, a fact that makes it unfeasible to test each individual configuration.