Automatic Adaptation of Component-based Software: Issues and Experiences

This paper deals with the dynamic adaptation problem. By Dynamic, we mean the ability to introduce modifications in an application at run-time. A component-based application is a set of interconnected units. Adapting one or more of its components can enhance such an application. In general, adapting a component means disconnecting it from the application and connecting a new version. The aim of this paper is to highlight the reasons of performing an adaptation, to identify and to classify its different types, and to define the problems and the complexity raised by each type. Dynamic adaptation is not a new problem, the first works go back to 1976[1]. We first introduce a short background of the adaptation problem, followed by the presentation of the different adaptation reasons, types and how to evaluate an adaptation approach. The remainder of the paper presents et evaluates the evolution of the adaptation approach from a large spectrum covering the classical approaches to the recent ones.