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On Complex Networks in Software: How Agent–Orientation Effects Software Structures

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Book cover Multi-Agent Systems and Applications V (CEEMAS 2007)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 4696))

Abstract

Software-Engineering provides techniques to ease handling the essential complexity of software. A number of engineering paradigms and architectures have been devised and each generation claims to relieve future development efforts. But to date little is known about how different development approaches affect the underlying implemenation structures, making their contributions arguable. Recently, the statistical analysis of large–scale modular software systems – represented as directed graphs – revealed complex system characteristics, namely scale–free and small–world phenomena. In this paper, we argue that the exhibited network characteristics reflect utilized design approaches and apply graph analysis to examine the structural differences imposed by the utilization of Agent–Oriented Software Engineering. As this novel development paradigm proposes autonomous and pro–active entities as an atomic design and development metaphor for complicated and inherently distributed software systems, an initial analysis and comparison of graphs abstracting both agent– and object–oriented system designs reveals structural differences which suggest that agent autonomy influences the resulting underlying implementation structures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Multimedia Systems Laboratory, Department of Information and Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Berliner Tor 7, 20099 Hamburg, Germany

    Jan Sudeikat & Wolfgang Renz

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  1. Jan Sudeikat
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  2. Wolfgang Renz
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Editor information

Hans-Dieter Burkhard Gabriela Lindemann Rineke Verbrugge László Zsolt Varga

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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Sudeikat, J., Renz, W. (2007). On Complex Networks in Software: How Agent–Orientation Effects Software Structures. In: Burkhard, HD., Lindemann, G., Verbrugge, R., Varga, L.Z. (eds) Multi-Agent Systems and Applications V. CEEMAS 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 4696. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75254-7_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75254-7_22

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-75253-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-75254-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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