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2nd Workshop on Middleware-Application Interaction (MAI'2008) MAI'2008, June 3, Oslo, Norway http://mai08.di.fc.ul.pt Co-located With DisCoTec federated conferences 2008 http://discotec08.ifi.uio.no/

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*Overview* The basic interaction between middleware and application uses simple mechanisms such as method invocations or message passing. These basic interactions are not sufficient for complex tasks. There is a rising demand for middleware support for multiple cross-cutting features such as security, fault tolerance, and distributed resource management. In adaptive systems, the middleware has to exert control on applications, and vice versa. Middleware systems need the right access to applications running on top; applications need the right way for influencing middleware behaviour. Unlike the basic interaction mechanisms, such complex features are currently addressed by a highly heterogeneous set of methods such as aspect-oriented programming, reflection, code annotations, and policies.

*Goals and Contributions* MAI'2008 aims at providing researchers with a forum for discussing the state of the art of approaches to middleware-application interaction and for identifying challenging open problems.

The goal of the workshop is to bring together active researchers in the different fields that relate to the workshop topic. Our ambition is to foster discussions between participants with different background and experience, and to provide the participants with a broader view of the problems and established approaches.

We believe that the workshop will yield new ideas for future system research in the area of middleware platforms, and will nourish the exchange of ideas and strengthen the cooperation between interested scientists.

*Workshop Format* The workshop will be organised as a series of sessions, each session being devoted to the presentation of papers of a common domain. At the end of each session, we will have a mini-panel with the presenters on the session theme, led by the session chair, in order to foster discussions.

The workshop will conclude with a general discussion of open issues and future trends in the field, summarising the overall contributions of the workshop.

*Topics of Interest* Topics of interest to this workshop include, but not limit to the following:

-Composition of complex middleware features -Unanticipated middleware integration of applications -Interaction MW/App, MW/MW, App/App -Variability of the application-middleware-interconnect -Middleware reconfigurability and adaptivity -AOP for the implementation of middleware systems -AOP for middleware-based application -Dynamic AOP -Composition of independent aspects -Developer annotations for complex middleware features -Reflective middleware -Model-driven middleware and application design -Support for product lines in middleware -Software engineering for middleware-based applications

*Important Dates* Paper and abstract submission 20 March 2008 Acceptance notification 1 May 2008 Camera-ready papers due 15 May 2008 Workshop 3 June 2008

*Submission Guidelines* Manuscripts must be submitted as printable PDF documents and should not exceed 3000 words. Formatting according to the final manuscript style (ACM standard) is recommended. Electronic submission will be available starting in January on the workshop website.

The camera-ready version of manuscripts must be formatted according to the ACM standard style (2-column), and must not exceed 6 pages.

At least one author of an accepted paper must register at the conference and present the paper at the workshop.

*Workshop Chairs* Ruediger Kapitza FAU-Erlangen (Germany) Hans P. Reiser University of Lisboa (Portgual)

*Program Committee* Amy L. Murphy, ITC-IRST (Italy) & University of Lugano (Switzerland) Antonio Casimiro Costa, University of Lisboa (Portugal) Charles Zhang, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Franz J. Hauck, Ulm University (Germany) Frederic Le Mouel, INRIA / INSA Lyon (France) Hans P. Reiser, University of Lisboa (Portugal) Joni da Silva Fraga, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Brazil) Joerg Bartholdt, Siemens AG (Germany) Mourad Alia, Orange Labs (France) Olaf Spinczyk, Uni Dortmund (Germany) Patricia Dockhorn Costai, Federal University of Espirito Santo (Brazil) Ruediger Kapitza, FAU-Erlangen (Germany) Rene Meier, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) Sameh Elnikety, Microsoft Research Cambridge (UK)

*Contact Info* ws-mai@i4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de