A Game Theoretic Solution for the Optimal Selection of Software Components

It is both difficult and expensive to design and implement a software system that excels in all its functional and non-functional properties. Instead, we could envisage a software system which is made up of several software components having complementary attributes. These components are obtained from a library of software components, each having a specific functional and non-functional profile, and they are selected by a decision maker to satisfy the system requirements and optimise the quality of service under cost constraints. This paper specifically considers the problem of the optimal selection of software components with respect to their non-functional attributes, and describes a game theoretic solution by formulating the problem as a bargaining game. In addition to the game theoretic solution, the paper also discusses other alternative approaches for the optimal selection of software components.