Protocol and role: abstraction mechanisms in agent oriented programming languages
Bent Bruun Kristensen · International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering · 2018
The language mechanisms protocol and role are used in order to organise the interaction structures between agents in multi-agent systems. Agents are internally organised by means of roles, roles are related as protocols, and agents send messages to each other through their related roles. The comprehensive and complex interaction structures between agents are conceptualised by protocol and role, and these abstraction mechanisms are used in the description of interaction structures. The description of the interaction structures between agents becomes understandable and the development process of multi-agent systems becomes efficient and flexible. The language mechanisms are illustrated by means of a supporting application framework.