AGENTS AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Michael Wooldridge · 2002
Software engineers continually strive to develop tools and techniques to manage the complexity that is inherent in software systems. In this article, we argue that intelligent agents and agent-based systems are just such tools. Following a discussion on the subject of what makes software complex, we introduce intelligent agents as software structures capable of making "rational decisions". Such rational decision-makers are well-suited to the construction of certain types of software, which mainstream software engineering has had little success with. We then go on to examine a number of prototype techniques proposed for engineering agent systems, including formal specification and verification methods for agent systems, and techniques for implementing agent specifications. 1 Introduction It has long been known that software development is inherently difficult --- that software has certain essential characteristics that make it hard to develop efficient, robust, correct software. Simila...