Methodologies and Software Engineering for Agent Systems

With increasing acceptance of agent-based computing, a great deal of new research related to the identification and definition of suitable models, tools, and techniques to support the development of complex Multiagent Systems (MAS) has emerged. This research, generally identified as Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE), continually proposes new metaphors, new formal modeling approaches and techniques, and new development methodologies and tools. The contributions in Methodologies and Software Engineering for Agent Systems, written by leading international researchers, bring together these diverse research results and proposals. The book is separated into six parts, providing the reader with introductory material, concepts and techniques that already provide results for practical use, and research that is still more investigative in nature.