Software agents

While most of the software programs provide their users with significant value when used in isolation, there is increasing demand for programs that can interoperate - that is, exchange information and services with other programs and thereby solve problems that cannot be solved alone. Agent-based software engineering was invented to facilitate the creation of software able to interoperate in such settings. In this approach to software development, application programs are written as software agents, i.e. software components that communicate with their peers by exchanging messages in an expressive agent communication language. Agent-based software engineering is often compared to object-oriented programming. Three questions are raised about the concept of agent-based software engineering: 1. What is an appropriate agent communication language? 2. How are agents built that are capable of communicating in this language? 3. What communication architectures are conducive to cooperation?