Software Cybernetics

Abstract

Software cybernetics explores the interplay between software and control. Although the concepts of software and cybernetics are well known when considered in isolation, the definition and scope of software cybernetics is sometimes blurred because of its novelty. A definition of software cybernetics and the delineation of its scope are the major goals of this article. Also presented here is a brief description of some applications of software cybernetics.

Modern software cybernetics: New trends

“…There have been two important surveys (Cai et al, 2003;Cangussu et al, 2007) in this widely studied general area. Hence, this survey focuses on the new publications after the review carried out by Cangussu et al (2007).…”

“…Software-enabled control (SEC) (Bay and Heck, 2003;Heck et al, 2001) can be treated as the second perspective of software cybernetics research. The technical goal of SEC was to develop a sort of new software enabled control methods based on the principles and methods of software engineering (Cangussu et al, 2007). The work in SEC area exemplifies some of the software engineering methodologies in control software development, such as software patterns, reusable control software, and open control platforms.…”

“…In addition to this view, Cangussu et al (2007) defined software cybernetics as "an emerging discipline that explores the theoretically justified interplay between software and control". Their perception for the scope of software cybernetics was a direct consequence of a perceived scarcity in the solid theoretical background for software engineering.…”

“…The author mentioned that the idea of software cybernetics was proposed in 1994 with an attempt to apply cybernetic or control-theoretical approaches to solving problems in software engineering. There has been a consistent expansion since then, mainly through the International Workshop on Software Cybernetics (IWSC) (Cangussu et al, 2007). An overview of software cybernetics is available in other surveys (Cai, 2002a;Cai et al, 2003;Belli et al, 2006;Cangussu et al, 2007).…”

“…There has been a consistent expansion since then, mainly through the International Workshop on Software Cybernetics (IWSC) (Cangussu et al, 2007). An overview of software cybernetics is available in other surveys (Cai, 2002a;Cai et al, 2003;Belli et al, 2006;Cangussu et al, 2007). Despite the excellent work in the surveys listed above, from cybernetics viewpoint, the work is mainly on the first-order level.…”