A common extensible software configuration markup language (XSCML) is provided which is suitable to define a project related to the development or update of a software product. The common XSCML may be based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML). In accordance with the XSCML, a software project definition and a system independent software configuration framework are generated. An XSCML processor is provided to access the project definition and to describe product elements and processes and define their access parameters and their relations among each other.