Managing trade-offs in adaptable software architectures

Making trade-offs in architecture is a fundamental activity in software design. As software is required to operate continuously in changing and uncertain environments, adaptability needs to be considered as a key issue, along with other more traditional software qualities. In this chapter, we introduce the concept of managing trade-offs in adaptable software architectures, discussing adaptability during the design of the software and as it runs. We outline important current approaches, challenges, and opportunities in managing these trade-offs.