Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Conference on Principles and Practice of Multi-Agent Systems

PRIMA 2009: Principles of Practice in Multi-Agent Systems pp 200–215Cite as

An Empirical Study of Agent Programs

A Dynamic Blocks World Case Study in GOAL

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 5925))

Abstract

Agent-oriented programming has been motivated in part by the conception that high-level programming constructs based on common sense notions such as beliefs and goals provide appropriate abstraction tools to develop autonomous software. Various agent programming languages and frameworks have been developed by now, but no systematic study has been done as to how the language constructs in these languages may and are in fact used in practice. Performing a study of these aspects may contribute to the design of best practices or programming guidelines for agent programming, and clarify the use of common sense notions in agent programs. In this paper, we analyze various agent programs for dynamic blocks world, written in the Goal agent programming language. We present several observations based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis that provide insight into more practical aspects of the development of agent programs. Finally, we identify important issues in three key areas related to agent-oriented programming that need further investigation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Astefanoaei, L., de Boer, F.S.: Model-checking agent refinement. In: AAMAS, pp. 705–712 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Basili, V.R., Briand, L.C. (eds.): Empirical Software Engineering: An International Journal. Springer, Heidelberg (2009), http://www.springer.com/computer/programming/journal/10664

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bordini, R.H., Dastani, M., Dix, J., El Fallah Seghrouchni, A.: Multi-Agent Programming: Languages, Platforms and Applications. Springer, Berlin (2005)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  4. Bordini, R.H., Dastani, M., Dix, J., El Fallah Seghrouchni, A.: Multi-Agent Programming: Languages, Tools and Applications. Springer, Berlin (2009)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. Bordini, R.H., Hübner, J.F., Wooldridge, M.: Programming Multi-agent Systems in AgentSpeak using Jason. Wiley, Chichester (2007)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Dastani, M.: 2APL: a practical agent programming language. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 16(3), 214–248 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hindriks, K.V.: Modules as policy-based intentions: Modular agent programming in GOAL. In: Dastani, M.M., El Fallah Seghrouchni, A., Ricci, A., Winikoff, M. (eds.) ProMAS 2007. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 4908, pp. 156–171. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Hindriks, K., Jonker, C., Pasman, W.: Exploring heuristic action selection in agent programming. In: Hindriks, K.V., Pokahr, A., Sardina, S. (eds.) ProMAS 2008. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 5442, pp. 24–39. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Hindriks, K., van Riemsdijk, M.B.: Using temporal logic to integrate goals and qualitative preferences into agent programming. In: Baldoni, M., Son, T.C., van Riemsdijk, M.B., Winikoff, M. (eds.) DALT 2008. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 5397, pp. 215–232. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. Hindriks, K.V.: Programming rational agents in GOAL. In: Bordini, R.H., Dastani, M., Dix, J., El Fallah Seghrouchni, A. (eds.) Multi-Agent Programming: Languages, Tools and Applications. Springer, Berlin (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Nilsson, N.J.: Teleo-reactive programs and the triple-tower architecture. Electronic Transactions on Artificial Intelligence 5, 99–110 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Pokahr, A., Braubach, L., Lamersdorf, W.: A goal deliberation strategy for BDI agent systems. In: Eymann, T., Klügl, F., Lamersdorf, W., Klusch, M., Huhns, M.N. (eds.) MATES 2005. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 3550, pp. 82–93. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  13. Pokahr, A., Braubach, L., Lamersdorf, W.: Jadex: a BDI reasoning engine. In: Bordini, R.H., Dastani, M., Dix, J., El Fallah Seghrouchni, A. (eds.) Multi- Agent Programming: Languages, Platforms and Applications. Springer, Berlin (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Shoham, Y.: Agent-oriented programming. Artificial Intelligence 60, 51–92 (1993)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  15. Slaney, J., Thiébaux, S.: Blocks World revisited. Artificial Intelligence 125, 119–153 (2001)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  16. van Riemsdijk, M.B., Hindriks, K.: An empirical study of agent programs: A dynamic blocks world case study in goal, extended version (2009), http://mmi.tudelft.nl/~koen/prima09extended.pdf

  17. Winikoff, M.: JACKTM intelligent agents: an industrial strength platform. In: Bordini, R.H., et al. (eds.) Multi-Agent Programming: Languages, Platforms and Applications. Springer, Berlin (2005)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EEMCS, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    M. Birna van Riemsdijk & Koen V. Hindriks

Authors
  1. M. Birna van Riemsdijk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Koen V. Hindriks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science and Information Engineering, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon, South Korea

    Jung-Jin Yang

  2. Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Department of Informatics, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, 819-0395, Fukuoka, Japan

    Makoto Yokoo

  3. School of Techno-Business Administration, Dept. of Computer Science, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso, Showa-ku, 466-8555, Nagoya, Japan

    Takayuki Ito

  4. School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, No. 5 Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China

    Zhi Jin

  5. Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Paul Scerri

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

van Riemsdijk, M.B., Hindriks, K.V. (2009). An Empirical Study of Agent Programs. In: Yang, JJ., Yokoo, M., Ito, T., Jin, Z., Scerri, P. (eds) Principles of Practice in Multi-Agent Systems. PRIMA 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 5925. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11161-7_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11161-7_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-11160-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-11161-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation