Agent-Based Abstractions for Software Development
Munindar P. Singh · Kluwer Academic Publishers eBooks · 2006
This chapter provides the historical and conceptual basis needed to fully appreciate the tools and techniques for agent-based software development. It begins with a review of the historical development of software technology from standalone to open systems. It discusses the major challenge of increasing complexity as software systems become larger and more open. The chapter presents the features of the agent metaphor that make it ideally suited for large-scale open systems development as well as the key technical abstractions that emerge from the agents metaphor and their ramifications on software practice.