Automated Self-Assembly Programming Paradigm: Initial Investigations

This paper presents a model that simulates a self-assembly process for software components. Initial investigations on the automated self-assembly programming paradigm (ASAP²) is presented whereby software components are treated as a gas´ molecules and their interactions, within a confined area with specific temperature and pressure constraints, give rise to a variety of program architectures. We present experimental results that show how different factors affect the efficiency of the software self-assembly process and the diversity of the self-assembled programs. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that self-assembly - a ubiquitous natural phenomenon - has been proposed as a (potentially) viable alternative to other automated program synthesis methodologies like for example genetic programming