The agent metaphor and the agent-based approach to systems design constitute a promising new paradigm for building complex distributed systems. However, until now, the majority of the agent-based applications available have been built by researchers who specialize in agent-based computing and distributed artificial intelligence. If agent-based computing is to become anything more than a niche technology practiced by the few, then the base of people who can successfully apply the approach needs to be broadened dramatically. A major step in this broadening endeavor is the development of methodologies for agent-oriented software engineering accessible to and attractive for professional software engineers in their daily work. Against this background, this book presents one of the first coherent attempts to develop such a methodology for a broad class of agent-based systems. The author provides a clear introduction to the key issues in the field of agent-oriented software engineering.
| Foreword | ||
| List of Figures | ||
| List of Process Models | ||
| 1 | Introduction | 1 |
| 2 | Agents, Multiagent Systems and Software Engineering | 9 |
| 2.1 | Intelligent Agents | 9 |
| 2.2 | Systems of Agents | 15 |
| 2.3 | Related Fields in Computer Science | 19 |
| 2.4 | Agent-Oriented Software Engineering | 21 |
| 3 | Basic Concepts in Software Engineering | 35 |
| 3.1 | Cognitive Aspects of Software Engineering | 35 |
| 3.2 | Requirements for Software Engineering Support | 50 |
| 3.3 | A General Model of Software Engineering | 51 |
| 3.4 | Software Engineering Product Models | 53 |
| 3.5 | Software Engineering Process Models | 57 |
| 3.6 | Quality Management of Systematic Learning | 91 |
| 4 | The Conceptual Framework of Massive | 97 |
| 4.1 | The foundations of Massive | 97 |
| 4.2 | Knowbbles | 99 |
| 4.3 | Views | 101 |
| 4.4 | Iterative View Engineering | 114 |
| 4.5 | Putting It All Together | 117 |
| 5 | Massive Views | 121 |
| 5.1 | A Brief Introduction to Train Coupling- and Sharing (TCS) | 122 |
| 5.2 | Environment View | 125 |
| 5.3 | Task View | 130 |
| 5.4 | Role View | 138 |
| 5.5 | Interaction View | 144 |
| 5.6 | Society View | 167 |
| 5.7 | Architecture View | 174 |
| 5.8 | System View | 190 |
| 6 | Further Case Studies | 205 |
| 6.1 | The Teamwork Library | 205 |
| 6.2 | Personal Travel Assistant: International Route Planning | 219 |
| 7 | Conclusion | 243 |
| A | Toolkits for Agent-Based Applications | 247 |
| B | Basic Problem Solving Capabilities of TCS Agents | 255 |
| C | Protoz Specification of the Contract-Net Protocol | 261 |
| Bibliography | 265 | |
| Glossary | 281 | |
| Index | 282 |
Overview
The agent metaphor and the agent-based approach to systems design constitute a promising new paradigm for building complex distributed systems. However, until now, the majority of the agent-based applications available have been built by researchers who specialize in agent-based computing and distributed artificial intelligence. If agent-based computing is to become anything more than a niche technology practiced by the few, then the base of people who can successfully apply the approach needs to be broadened ...