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Domain analysis
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Software_engineering/KX6cE9kz">software engineering</a>, domain analysis, or product line analysis, is the process of analyzing related <a href="/facts/Software/RP79lVSW">software</a> systems in a <a href="/facts/Domain_(software_engineering)/NRnAyFlR">domain</a> to find their common and variable parts. It is a model of wider business context for the system. The term was coined in the early 1980s by James Neighbors. Domain analysis is the first phase of <a href="/facts/Domain_engineering/PGL9s7Ij">domain engineering</a>. It is a key method for realizing systematic <a href="/facts/Software_reuse/DVohfy6U">software reuse</a>. </p><p>Domain analysis produces <a href="/facts/Domain_model/rSxm7s5a">domain models</a> using methodologies such as <a href="/facts/Domain_specific_languages/n18H1foD">domain specific languages</a>, <i>feature tables</i>, <i>facet tables</i>, <i>facet templates</i>, and <i>generic architectures</i>, which describe all of the <a href="/facts/System/hmqQ4ASX">systems</a> in a domain. Several methodologies for domain analysis have been proposed. </p><p>The products, or "artifacts", of a domain analysis are sometimes object-oriented models (e.g. represented with the <a href="/facts/Unified_Modeling_Language/3tlNS0tH">Unified Modeling Language</a> (UML)) or <a href="/facts/Data_model/j1YyzpJ3">data models</a> represented with <a href="/facts/Entity-relationship_diagram/U8A0mwYe">entity-relationship diagrams</a> (ERD). <a href="/facts/Software_developer/WGTS1Jv9">Software developers</a> can use these models as a basis for the implementation of <a href="/facts/Software_architecture/1Hokp0Ed">software architectures</a> and <a href="/facts/Application_software/YQuj7Kog">applications</a>. This approach to domain analysis is sometimes called <a href="/facts/Model-driven_engineering/vznUHbSm">model-driven engineering</a>. </p><p>In <a href="/facts/Information_science/HGG3e3Jv">information science</a>, the term "domain analysis" was suggested in 1995 by <a href="/facts/Birger_Hj%C3%B8rland/gVuDN0cD">Birger Hjørland</a> and H. Albrechtsen. </p>