ABSTRACT Context Self‐adaptive Software (SaS) is a special category of software systems that enables adaptation at runtime to address new user requirements or changes in its execution environment. This article focuses on a specific category of SaS named SaS2DB, which encompasses systems that require the storage of data in a database. In short, a SaS2DB must understand the changing needs and implement a strategy to execute the evolution of its data schema. The evolution of data schema is a complex issue that encompasses data schema migration, data migration, and other non‐functional requirements. Motivation Despite the importance of this research topic, there is a lack of understanding of how the design of data schema evolution for the SaS domain has been conducted. Objective The main purpose of this article is to provide an overview of data schema evolution for the SaS domain based on 19 relevant studies. Methods To do so, a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) was conducted, following the guidelines proposed by Petersen et al. Results This SMS offers a comprehensive overview of the aforementioned research area, presenting key evidence on the main non‐functional attributes, data models, application domains, and migration strategies adopted in the design of data schema evolution for SaS. Conclusion Moreover, this SMS presents the main findings and several open challenges, highlighting a deep relationship between the design of a SaS and the choice of a suitable solution to support the evolution of its data schema.

Abstract Self‐adaptive service‐oriented Applications (Self‐Apps) must be able to understand themselves or the environment in which they are executed, and propose solutions to meet changing conditions. The development of these applications is not a trivial task, since it encompasses issues from different research areas. Despite the importance of frameworks for Self‐Apps, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis of how the design of such applications is performed, and regarding the standardization of concepts and coverage of minimum requirements for Self‐Apps. The main contribution of this article is to present this comprehensive analysis, providing the state of the art for this subject. This analysis was built through a Systematic Mapping Study, based on a total of 65 studies, from which we identify the main attributes for Quality of Service (QoS), search strategies, and service management strategies employed in the design of frameworks for Self‐Apps. The main aspects of requirements involved in the design of Self‐Apps were pointed out to stakeholders. For example, these applications must implement a method for evaluation of QoS based on metrics. We also put forward the S‐Frame, a modular solution that brings together the main features for the design of Self‐Apps, and describe the main challenges concerning these applications.

Nowadays, most human daily tasks can be performed by means of Mobile Applications (MobApps). Devices running such applications have some limitations (e.g., processing and storage) compared to personal computers. Therefore, integration of MobApps into service-based systems has been a feasible alternative to overcome these limitations. Moreover, these applications must be prepared to deal with the changes at runtime (e.g., user's new needs or modifications in their execution environment). In parallel, Reference Architectures (RA) have been used as an important way to support the development, standardization, and evolution of software systems. Although relevant, RA for the domain of MobApps based on services that require adaptation at runtime is still an issue to be explored in depth. This paper presents a RA for Self-MobApps (named RA4Self-MobApps), which aims to support the development of such applications. To show the applicability of our RA, a case study was conducted. As result, we observe our RA has good perspective to efficiently contribute to the Self-MobApps domain.

Today's society is increasingly dependent on the use of mobile devices, which have changed over these last 10 years the way people perform their daily tasks.This can certainly be one of the factors that has boosted the demand for development of highquality Mobile Applications (MobApps).In short, to improve the efficiency of the development life cycle, these applications often use third-party components (e.g., software components, web services, and other mobile applications).Service-oriented MobApps have been a feasible alternative to overcome hardware limitations of these devices to increase the processing and storage capacity.In another perspective, it is also noted a change in the behavior of users of MobApps and their needs, which require applications capable of modifying their structure and/or behavior at runtime.Thus, this paper presents a framework to support the development of Self-adaptive Services-oriented MobApps (Self-MobApps), which enable adaptation of services at runtime.To show the feasibility of our framework, a case study for a smart restaurant was conducted.The results of this study enable us to create a positive perspective on the contribution of our framework to the research communities involved.

Today’s society is increasingly dependent on the use of mobile or smart devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, hybrid devices, smart-TVs, smart-watches, among others), which have changed over these last 10 years the way people perform their daily tasks. In parallel, Internet of Things (IoT) systems have played a prominent position in this scenario, since they enable to exchange information among different types of devices and services (e.g. physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, sensors, among others). This scenario has boosted the demand for development of high-quality Mobile Applications (MobApps), which can be pre-installed on such devices during manufacturing platforms, or delivered as applications by the mobile stores or third parties. According to [1–3], mobile devices have some physical limitations (e.g. processing and storage) compared to personal computers. Thus, service-oriented MobApps have been a feasible alternative to overcome such limitations, improving the efficiency of the development life cycle of these applications with adoption of third-party components (e.g. software components, web services, and other mobile applications). In another perspective, it is also been noted a change in the user behavior of MobApps, which demand applications capable of operating in adverse conditions, maintaining their integrity of execution. Considering the relevance of such applications, this paper reports the extension of a framework to support the development of Self-adaptive Services-oriented MobApps (Self-MobApps), which enables modification of services at runtime [4] by means of a deployment dynamic approach. To show the feasibility of our framework, a case study for a smart restaurant was conducted in a mobile environment. The results of this study enable us to create a positive perspective on the contribution of our framework to the research communities involved.

Self-adaptive Software (SaS), a special class of software system, constantly deals with some type of changes (i.e., structural and/or behavioral) to meet the user's new needs or autonomously react to modifications in its execution environment.Software adaptation, when manually performed, becomes an onerous and error-prone activity.Automated approaches have been adopted as a feasible alternative to overcome such adversities because they reduce the human involvement to a minimum.Based on this scenario, a Reference Architecture for SaS (RA4SaS) [1], [2] was designed in previous work.This architecture enables the adaptation of SaS at runtime by means of a controlled adaptation approach.In this sense, an automated process and a complete infrastructure to allow the phases of such process were also developed.This paper presents the design and implementation of a new module for automatic generation of source code for our architecture based on template engines [3].In short, the main benefits of this module can be summarized in three items: (i) higher design flexibility, maintenance and evolution of SaS; (ii) introduction of new capabilities for automatic generation of source code; and (iii) performance improvement.To present the operation of this new module, a case study was conducted.As result, we have observed that our architecture has good perspective to efficiently contribute to the SaS area.

The ability to modify its own structure and/or behavior at runtime is a native feature in the development of Self-adaptive Software (SaS).In previous work, a Reference Architecture for SaS (RA4SaS), an automated process for adaptation, and a framework for decision-making were developed to assist the development of SaS.Although such initiatives have collaborated with evolution of SaS, the design of the Decisionmaking Systems (DmS), element of first class for SaS, is manually conducted.Therefore, this paper presents a tool called DmS-Modeler, which aims to assist the development of DmS for SaS, providing facilities for modeling, calibration of such system, and automatic generation of infrastructure (i.e., source code and databases).Aiming to present the applicability of our tool, a case study was conducted and the results enable us to have good perspectives of contribution to the SaS area and other domains of software systems.

The development of Self-adaptive Software (SaS) presents specific innovative features compared to traditional ones since this type of software constantly deals with structural and/or behavioral changes at runtime.Capabilities of human administration are showing a decrease in relative effectiveness, since some tasks have been difficult to manage introducing potential problems, such as change management and simple human error.Self-healing systems, a system class of SaS, have emerged as a feasible solution in contrast to management complexity, since such system often combines machine learning techniques with control loops to reduce the number of situations requiring human intervention.This paper presents a framework based on learning techniques and the control loop (MAPE-K) to support the decision-making activity for SaS.In addition, it is noteworthy that this framework is part of a wider project developed by the authors of this paper in previous work (i.e., reference architecture for SaS [1]).Aiming to present the viability of our framework, we have conducted a case study using a flight plan module for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.The results have shown an environment accuracy of about 80%, enabling us to project good perspectives of contribution to the SaS area and other domains of software systems, and enabling knowledge sharing and technology transfer from academia to industry.