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Agents can think, too!
Despite the hype that often surrounds intelligent agents, there are very good, very practical reasons why agents (especially mobile agents) should be a bit more intelligent than your average piece of software. This month, Todd explains why and shows you how to give your agents a boost in IQ (via expert systems).
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Agents on the move
Mobile agents, the touring members of the agent clan, have as their defining trait the ability to pack their bags and move on. They needn't use this freedom for frivolous purposes, however. Their mobility allows them to overcome several nagging problems that traditional client/server architectures don't handle well. This month, Todd Sundsted shows you why and how to mobilize your agents.
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Agents talking to agents
No matter what a particular agent architecture provides, the one ever-present feature is support for agent communication. This is true because agents, by themselves, aren't very powerful. It's only by working together with other agents that they become useful. In this month's How-To Java, find out how to add agent communication to the agent architecture you've been developing.
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An introduction to agents
Agents draw on and integrate many diverse disciplines of computer science, and although agent technology has not yet hit prime time, it is gathering its share of investment money. Find out what all the uproar is about in this month's column, which examines agents -- what they are and what problems they solve. Columnist Todd Sundsted also shows you how to lay the foundation for a simple agent architecture in Java, which you'll develop in upcoming installments of How-To Java.
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Solve real problems with aglets, a type of mobile agent
Mobile agents have been around for many years, but they haven't yet entered the mainstream. Last month's Under The Hood described the inner workings of aglets, a mobile-agent technology built on top of Java. This article answers the question, Why would developers choose mobile agents over other software technologies, such as client/server, applets, and servlets, for solving real-world problems?
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Under the Hood: The architecture of aglets
Find out about the inner workings of aglets, IBM Japan's Java-based autonomous software agent technology.
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Agents: Not just for Bond anymore
Agents are no longer secret. But you may be wondering if agent technology is just another cool buzzword or a valuable new systems development model. This article defines agents and provides a tutorial on how to create them in Java using IBM's Aglet Workbench.
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Is it an Agent, or just a Program?:
A Taxonomy for Autonomous Agents
The advent of software agents gave rise to much discussion of just what such an agent is, and of how they differ from programs in general. Here we propose a formal definition of an autonomous agent which clearly distinguishes a software agent from just any program. We also offer the beginnings of a natural kinds taxonomy of autonomous agents, and discuss possibilities for further classification. Finally, we discuss subagents and multiagent systems.
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Solve real problems with aglets, a type of mobile agent
Part 2 of this series explains the significance of mobile agents, such as aglets -- IBM Japan's Java-based, autonomous software agent technology.
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