Introduction
A new computing and networking paradigm is currently on the spot as one of the priority research areas and its research activities are booming recently: autonomic computing and networking (ACN), which are inspired by the human autonomic nervous system.

ACN are characterized by their self-* facets such as self-organization, self- configuration, self-healing, self-optimization, self-protection and so on, whose context-awareness used to dynamically control computing and networking functions.

The overarching goal of ACN is to develop computing and networking systems that can manage themselves without direct human intervention. Meeting this grand challenge of ACN requires a rigorous approach to ACN and the notion of self-*. To this end, taking advantage of formal methods, we will establish, in this book, formal and practical aspects of ACN through specifying, refining, programming and verifying ACN and their self-*. All of these are to achieve foundations and practice of ACN.

From the above characteristics, novel approaches of specification, refinement, programming and verification are arising in formal methods for ACN. Therefore, new methodologies, programming models, tools and techniques are imperative to deal with the impact of ACN and their self-* mentioned above on emerging computing and networking systems.

Objective of the Book
The proposed book will be a reference material for readers who already have a basic understanding of ACN and are now looking to research how to specify, develop and verify ACN using rigorous approaches. Hence, theoretical contributions are welcome, provided their relevance for specifying, developing and verifying ACN is clear. Reports on applications are welcome, provided their formal basis is evident. For keeping a reasonable trade-off between theoretical and practical issues, a careful selection of the chapters will be done, on the one hand, to cover a broad spectrum of formal and practical aspects and, on the other hand, to achieve as much as possible a self-contained book.

Formal and practical aspects will be preferably presented in a straightforward fashion by discussing in detail the necessary components and briefly touching on the more advanced components. Therefore, specification, development and verification demonstrating how to use the formal methods for ACN will be described by sound judgments and reasonable justifications.

Target Audience
The book is written for researchers, scientists, professionals and students in computer science and computer engineering as well as developers and practitioners in computing and networking systems design.

Recommended Topics
Topics of interest range from specification to implementation for ANC systems based on rigorous approaches in which theoretical contributions should be formally stated and justified, and practical applications should be based on their firm formal basis.

Recommended topics of the book include, but are not limited to, the following.