Giorgio Audrito, Ferruccio Damiani,
Mirko Viroli,
Roberto Casadei
Sameh Elnikety, Peter R. Lewis, Christian M{\"{u}}ller{-}Schloer (eds.)
2016 {IEEE} 1st International Workshops on Foundations and Applications of Self* Systems (FAS*W), Augsburg, Germany, September 12-16, 2016, pages 192–197
IEEE Computer
Sept 2016
The field calculus is proposed as a foundational model for collective adaptive systems, capturing in a tiny language essential aspects of distributed interaction, restriction and evolution, as well as providing ground for engineering resiliency properties. In this paper, we investigate the inter- play between interaction and restriction: known as “domain alignment” in field calculus, it is extremely powerful but can cause subtle bugs when not handled properly. We propose a disciplined programming approach based on the interplay between a weak and a strong version of alignment, mixing static and dynamic checks. This is exemplified to design a new reusable component dynamically updating the strategy by which a device can extract information from neighbours, which find applications, for instance, in the on-the-fly evolution of metrics in smart mobility applications.
