Transactions on Foundations for Mastering Change (FoMaC)

Everything Moves: Change Is No Exception for Today’s Systems — It Is the Norm
The LNCS Transactions on Foundations for Mastering Change (FoMaC) intend to establish a forum for foundational research that fosters a discipline for rigorously dealing with the phenomenon of change. In particular it addresses the very nature of today’s agile system development, which is characterized by unclear premises, unforeseen change, and the need for fast reaction, in a context of hard-to-control frame conditions, such as third-party components, network problems, and attacks. We envision focused contributions that reflect and enhance the state of the art under the perspective of change. This may comprise new theoretical results, analysis technology, tool support, experience reports and case studies, as well as pragmatics for change, i.e., user-centric approaches that make inevitable changes controllable in practice. Papers may well focus on individual techniques, but must clearly position themselves in the FoMaC landscape.

FoMaC is concerned with the foundations for mastering change and variation during the whole systems lifecycle at various conceptual levels, in particular during

Meta-Modeling:
This can be regarded as a technology transfer issue, where methods are considered to systematically adapt solutions from one (application) domain for another domain. This comprises meta-modeling, generation of and transformations between domain-specific languages, as well as other issues of domain modeling and validation.

Modeling and Design:
This is the main level at which “classic” variability modeling operates. The methods considered here generalize classic modeling to specifically address variability issues, e.g., where and how to change things, and technology to maintain structural and semantical properties within the range of modeled variability. Here methods such as feature modeling, “150% modeling,” productline management, model-to-model transformations, constraint-based (requirement) specification, synthesis-based model completion, model checking, and feature interaction detection are considered.

Implementation:

At this level, FoMaC addresses methods beyond classic parametric and modular programming approaches, such as aspect orientation, delta programming, program generation, generative programming, and program transformation, but also static and dynamic validation techniques, e.g., program verification, symbolic execution, runtime verification, (model-based) testing, and test-based modeling.

Runtime:

This is the level of self-X technology, where methods are addressed that allow, steer, and control the autonomous evolution of systems during runtime. These methods comprise techniques to achieve fault tolerance, runtime planning and synthesis, higher-order exchange of functionality, hot deployment and fail-over, and they should go hand in hand with the aforementioned dynamic validation techniques, such as program verification, symbolic execution, runtime verification, (model-based) testing, test-based modeling, and monitoring.

Evolution/Migration:

This level is concerned with the long-term perspective of system evolution, i.e., the part where the bulk of costs is accumulated. Central issues here are the change of platform, the merging of systems of overlapping functionality, the maintenance of downward compatibility, and the support of a continuous (system) improvement process, as well as continuous quality assurance, comprising regression testing, monitoring, delta testing, and model-based diagnostic features.

FoMaC comprises regular papers and Special Sections. Both need to clearly focus on
change. Special Sections, however, provide the unique opportunity to shed light on a
wider thematic context while establishing appropriate (change-oriented) links between
the subtopics.

Editor-in-Chief

• Bernhard Steffen 
  TU Dortmund University, Germany

Editorial Board

• Michael Felderer, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• Klaus Havelund, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA, USA
• Mike Hinchey, Lero, Ireland
• Reiner Hähnle, TU Darmstadt, Germany
• Axel Legay, Inria, France
• Tiziana Margaria, Lero, Ireland
• Arend Rensink, University of Twente, The Netherlands
• Bernhard Steffen, TU Dortmund University, Germany
• Stavros Tripakis, Aalto University and University of California, Berkeley, USA
• Martin Wirsing, LMU, Munich, Germany

More detailed information, in particular concerning the submission process as well as a

direct access to the editorial system, can be found under http://www.fomac.de