Actors and agents as reflective concurrent objects: a MERING IV perspective
Jacques Ferber, Patrice Carle · IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics · 1991
A reflective actor language that is used as a development tool for implementing distributed artificial intelligence systems is described. The MERING IV language is bound on the actor model of computation, which allows for autonomy and concurrency. MERING IV is a reflective language, i.e., a language that can represent itself, both structurally and operationally. MERING IV implements a model of reflection called compilation-based reflection. Reflection in MERING IV is used as a glueing mechanism that permits agents of various sizes and intelligences to communicate in a uniform manner. An example of the use of reflection for describing transparent protocols between agents is given.>