Static Adaptation

The reuse of code is a field where adaptation is applied. This kind of adaptation is here denoted as static adaptation . One of the benefits of component based software engineering (CBSE) is the reuse of existing code respective components. The goal is to reduce programming to the composition of components.

 

Figure: Static adaptation  

Even if components are available for every functionality, it is probable that not every component fits together with another component or into an application. The reasons for that can e.g. be syntactical incompatibility or semantic differences of the interfaces. In order to use incompatible components static adaptation can be used to modify the incompatible parts of code in such a way that they fit together.

Static adaptation differs from dynamic adaptation - as defined in section - by two criteria. One criterion is the point of time when adaptation is executed. For static adaptation it is sufficient when the adapted code is available at compilation time and remains unchanged during the runtime of the application. In contrast dynamic adaptation is executed without termination of the application.

The other criterion is the nature of the adaptation function. Static adaptation gets a component C as input. The output is the modified component C' which fits into the designated application (s. figure ). This differs from dynamic adaptation (s. section ), where adaptation means the exchange of components, e.g.  X and Y (s. figure ), depending on the environment.