The complexity of modern computer networks and systems, combined with the extremely dynamic environments in which they operate, is beginning to outpace our ability to manage them. Taking yet another page from the biomimetics playbook, the autonomic computing paradigm mimics the human autonomic nervous system to free system developers and administrators from performing and overseeing low-level tasks. Surveying the current path toward this paradigm, Autonomic Computing: Concepts, Infrastructure, and Applications offers a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art research and implementations in this emerging area. This book begins by introducing the concepts and requirements of autonomic computing and exploring the architectures required to implement such a system. The focus then shifts to the approaches and infrastructures, including control-based and recipe-based concepts, followed by enabling systems, technologies, and services proposed for achieving a set of "self-*" properties, including self-configuration, self-healing, self-optimization, and self-protection. In the final section, examples of real-world implementations reflect the potential of emerging autonomic systems, such as dynamic server allocation and runtime reconfiguration and repair. Collecting cutting-edge work and perspectives from leading experts, Autonomic Computing: Concepts, Infrastructure, and Applications reveals the progress made and outlines the future challenges still facing this exciting and dynamic field.

This textbook provides a practical perspective on autonomic computing. Through the combined use of examples and hands-on projects, the book enables the reader to rapidly gain an understanding of the theories, models, design principles and challenges of this subject while building upon their current knowledge. Features: provides a structured and comprehensive introduction to autonomic computing with a software engineering perspective; supported by a downloadable learning environment and source code that allows students to develop, execute, and test autonomic applications at an associated website; presents the latest information on techniques implementing self-monitoring, self-knowledge, decision-making and self-adaptation; discusses the challenges to evaluating an autonomic system, aiding the reader in designing tests and metrics that can be used to compare systems; reviews the most relevant sources of inspiration for autonomic computing, with pointers towards more extensive specialty literature.

These proceedings contain the papers presented at the Third International ICST C- ference on Autonomic Computing and Communication Systems, Autonomics 2009, held at the Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus, during September 9–11, 2009. As for the previous editions of the conference, this year too the primary goal of the event was to allow people working in the areas of communication, design, progr- ming, use and fundamental limits of autonomics pervasive systems to meet and - change their ideas and experiences in the aforementioned issues. In maintaining the tradition of excellence of Autonomics, this year we accepted 11 high-quality papers out of 26 submitted and had 5 invited talks, covering various aspects of autonomic computing including applications, middleware, networking protocols, and evaluation. The wide interest in the autonomic systems is shown by the broad range of topics covered in the papers presented at the conference. All papers presented at the conf- ence are published here and some of them, which are considered particularly intere- ing, will be considered for publication in a special issue of the International Journal of Autonomics and Adaptive Communications Systems (IJAACS). The conference also hosted the First International Workshop on Agent-Based Social Simulation and Au- nomic Systems (ABSS@AS).

Autonomic Computing, Self Adapting and Self Organizing Systems

Autonomic Computing and Networking presents introductory and advanced topics on autonomic computing and networking with emphasis on architectures, protocols, services, privacy & security, simulation and implementation testbeds. Autonomic computing and networking are new computing and networking paradigms that allow the creation of self-managing and self-controlling computing and networking environment using techniques such as distributed algorithms and context-awareness to dynamically control networking functions without human interventions. Autonomic networking is characterized by recovery from failures and malfunctions, agility to changing networking environment, self-optimization and self-awareness. The self-control and management features can help to overcome the growing complexity and heterogeneity of exiting communication networks and systems. The realization of fully autonomic heterogeneous networking introduces several research challenges in all aspects of computing and networking and related fields.

Autonomic computing and networking (ACN), a concept inspired by the human autonomic system, is a priority research area and a booming new paradigm in the field. Formal and Practical Aspects of Autonomic Computing and Networking: Specification, Development, and Verification outlines the characteristics, novel approaches of specification, refinement, programming and verification associated with ACN. The goal of ACN and the topics covered in this work include making networks and computers more self-organized, self- configured, self-healing, self-optimizing, self-protecting, and more. This book helpfully details the steps necessary towards realizing computer and network autonomy and its implications.

Unconventional approaches to programming have long been developed, in various niches and out of curiosity, and they constitute a reservoir of alternative avenues to deal with unknown programming challenges. New paradigms of programming are currently experiencing a renewed period of interest and growth to cope with problems from specific application domains. This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the International Workshop on Unconventional Programming Paradigms, UPP 2004, held at Le Mont Saint Michel, France, in September 2004. The 26 revised full papers presented together with an invited paper on quantum computing were carefully reviewed for presentation in the book. The papers are organized in topical sections on chemical computing, amorphous computing, bio-inspired computing, autonomic computing, and generative programming.