An experiment in using control techniques in software engineering

This paper presents a description of an experiment in which control techniques, like adaptation and restructuring, were applied to the domain of software engineering. Changes in software requirements were treated as disturbances. A program called RAACR (Reconfigurable Architecture for Adapting to Changes in the Requirements) that can adapt to changes in software requirements through the incorporation of feedback was developed and tested. The program consists of a domain specific part and a generic part. It is a hierarchy of domains (blackboards) including multiple knowledge sources (KSs) and a domain scheduler. In response to feedback, knowledge sources change their processing parameters, while domain schedulers change the scheduling policy of the knowledge sources. A generic communication mechanism is implemented on a CORBA compliant system. The adaptability of the program was evaluated quantitatively using a requirements volatility measure and the probability of correct recognition.