The Art of Agent-oriented Modeling

by Sterling, Leon; Taveter, Kuldar

• ISBN13: 9780262013116
• ISBN10: 0262013118
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-08-31
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

Today, when computing is pervasive and deployed over a range of devices by a multiplicity of users, we need to develop computer software to interact with both the ever-increasing complexity of the technical world and the growing fluidity of social organizations. The Art of Agent-Oriented Modelingpresents a new conceptual model for developing software systems that are open, intelligent, and adaptive. It describes an approach for modeling complex systems that consist of people, devices, and software agents in a changing environment (sometimes known as distributed sociotechnical systems). The authors take an agent-oriented view, as opposed to the more common object-oriented approach. Thinking in terms of agents (which they define as the human and man-made components of a system), they argue, can change the way people think of software and the tasks it can perform. The book offers an integrated and coherent set of concepts and models, presenting the models at three levels of abstraction corresponding to a motivation layer (where the purpose, goals, and requirements of the system are described), a design layer, and an implementation layer. It compares platforms by implementing the same models in four different languages; compares methodologies by using a common example; includes extensive case studies; and offers exercises suitable for either class use or independent study. Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Agents series

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Models
Introduction	p. 3
Building Software in a Complex, Changing World	p. 4
What Is an Agent?	p. 7
From Individual Agents to Multiagent Systems	p. 10
What Is Modeling?	p. 14
Systems Engineering	p. 15
Emergent Behavior	p. 18
A Quick History of Programming Paradigms	p. 20
Background	p. 23
Exercises for Chapter 1	p. 24
Concepts	p. 27
The Conceptual Space	p. 27
Roles, Goals, and Organizations	p. 28
Agents and Activities	p. 35
Environment	p. 41
Relationships between the Layers	p. 43
Ontological Foundations of the Conceptual Space	p. 44
Background	p. 56
Exercises for Chapter 2	p. 59
Models	p. 61
The Running Case Study	p. 61
Goal Models and Motivational Scenarios	p. 65
Role and Organization Models	p. 71
Domain Models	p. 76
Agent and Acquaintance Models	p. 78
Interaction Models	p. 82
Knowledge Models	p. 89
Scenarios	p. 94
Behavior Models	p. 98
Service Models	p. 105
Background	p. 112
Exercises for Chapter 3	p. 117
Quality	p. 119
Considerations of Quality	p. 120
Performance	p. 122
Safety	p. 125
Security	p. 132
Socially Oriented Quality Goals	p. 136
Elaborating and Analyzing Quality Goals	p. 138
Background	p. 141
Exercises for Chapter 4	p. 141
Agent Programming Platforms and Languages	p. 143
The BDI Agent Architecture and Execution Model	p. 145
Jason	p. 148
3APL	p. 152
JACK	p. 160
JADE	p. 166
Background	p. 173
Viewpoint Framework	p. 177
Conceptual Frameworks	p. 177
Model-Driven Architecture	p. 183
The Viewpoint Framework	p. 185
Background	p. 187
APPLICATIONS
Agent-Oriented Methodologies	p. 191
A Conference Management System	p. 192
Gaia	p. 194
MaSE	p. 199
Tropos	p. 206
Prometheus	p. 211
ROADMAP and RAP/AOR	p. 220
Background	p. 234
Industry-Related Applications	p. 239
Business-to-Business E-Commerce	p. 239
Manufacturing	p. 261
Background	p. 278
Intelligent Lifestyle Applications	p. 281
Intelligent Homes	p. 281
Secret Touch	p. 297
Smart Music Player	p. 304
Background	p. 325
An E-Learning Application	p. 327
Supporting the Teaching of Algorithms with Animations	p. 327
Background	p. 336
Glossary	p. 339
List of Acronyms	p. 347
References	p. 351
Index	p. 361
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