User-centric dynamic evolution

The domain in which we situate this research is that of the availability of critical applications while they are being updated. In this domain, the attempt is to make sure that critical applications remain active while they are updated. For doing that, only those system parts which are affected by the update, will be made temporarily unavailable. The problem is that current approaches are not user-centric, and consequently, that they cannot provide feedback concerning which features are deactivated while performing an update. Our approach targets a four step impact analysis that allows correct feedback to be given while a software system is dynamically updated. First, the different features are identified. Second, the system entities that implement those features are identified. Third, an atomic change sequence is established for the actual update. Finally, we compare the atomic change sequence and the implementation of the features in order to establish a list of features that are affected by the update. This allows us to provide user-centric feedback in terms of features