A domain specific modeling language for multiagent systems

Abstract

Software systems are becoming more and more complex with a large number of interacting partners often distributed over a network. A common dilemma faced by software engineers in building complex systems is the lack of clear requirements and domain knowledge needed to come up with a detailed design of the system. Agent technologies are a suitable programming paradigm to cope with the complexity of modern software systems. However, existing agent-based methodologies and tools are developed for experienced programmers and are not suitable for non-agent experts. This paper discusses a domain specific modeling language for multiagent systems that (i) provides a clear syntax and semantics to define agent-based systems in a graphical visualized manner and (ii) can be used to automatically derive code from its design through model transformations. Copyright © 2008, Intemational Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems. All rights reserved.