Title: Role of aspect-oriented approach in dynamic adaptability

Authors: S. Suganthi; R. Nadarajan

Addresses: Department of Computer Technology and Applications, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore City, Tamil Nadu, 641014, India ' Department of Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore City, Tamil Nadu, 641015, India

Abstract: Adaptability of dynamic changes in the user's needs is considered as one of the important qualities to be possessed by a software system in pervasive environment. The work described in this paper proposed the solution for creating dynamic adaptable system through encapsulating dynamic changes using aspect-oriented approach. In the proposed solution, an 'aspect' is defined as the unit of representing dynamic changes in the user's requirements. The system can adapt to the changes by weaving redefined aspects with the components associated with the changes without affecting the existing structure of a system. Also, a new adaptability metric has been proposed using the principles of coupling. Using this adaptability metric, the adaptability efficiency of a system that uses the proposed approach is measured and its adaptability value is shown to be higher, if the number of components associated with the change is more than a system that uses the conventional approach for representing and implementing dynamic changes.

Keywords: adaptability; modularisation; aspect-oriented approach; object-oriented approach; dynamic changes; adaptability metric; coupling; user needs; software systems; pervasive computing; user requirements.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2013.055326

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2013 Vol.47 No.4, pp.334 - 342

Published online: 02 Dec 2013 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article