A namespace approach for modularity in BDI programming languages

Abstract

In this paper we propose a model for designing Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) agents under the principles of modularity. We aim to encapsulate agent functionalities expressed as BDI abstractions into independent, reusable and easier to maintain units of code, which agents can dynamically load. The general idea of our approach is to exploit the notion of namespace to organize components such as beliefs, plans and goals. This approach allowed us to address the name-collision problem, providing interface and information hiding features for modules. Although the proposal is suitable for agent-oriented programming languages in general, we present concrete examples in Jason.