This thesis presents research aimed at investigating different activities involved in software product lines testing process and possible improvements towards achieving developing high quality software product lines at reduced cost and time. The research was performed using systematic review procedures of Kitchenham. The reviews carried out in this research covers several areas relating to software product lines testing. The reasons for performing a systematic review in this research are to; summarize the existing evidence covering testing in software product line context, to identify gaps in current research and to suggest areas for further research. The contribution of this thesis is research aimed at revealing the different activities, issues and challenges in software product lines testing. The research into the different activities in software product lines lead to the proposed SPLIT Model for software product lines testing. The model helps to clarify the steps and activities involved in the software product line testing process. It provides and easy to follow map for testers and managers in software product line development organizations. The results were mainly on how testing in software product lines can be improved upon, towards achieving software product line goals. The basic contribution is the proposed model for product line testing, investigation into, and possible improvement in, issues related to software product line testing activities.

The main purpose of the research as presented in this thesis is to present a clear picture of testing in the context of software product lines, which is quite different from testing in single product. The focus of this thesis is specifically the different steps and activities involved in software product lines testing and possible improvements in software product lines testing activities and issues towards achieving the goals of developing high quality software product lines at reduced cost and time. But, for software product lines to achieve its goals, there should be a comprehensive set of testing activities in software product lines development. The development activities from performing analyses and creating designs to integrating programs in software product line context, component testing and tools support for software product lines testing should be taken into consideration.