Adaptation as a Problem of Design

In this chapter we will look at some of the key theoretical issues related to the design of adaptive systems. Following an introductory section which examines the importance of the environment in the design of adaptive systems we describe a taxonomy which classifies different types of adaptive system. And in light of our views on design we examine issues relating this to a methodology for designing adaptive systems. The taxonomy has implications for the architecture of adaptive systems, and a suitable architecture is discussed. This forms the basis for describing, in later chapters, the methods to be employed in the implementation of such systems and the features of particular exemplar systems.