Coordination of Internet Agents: Models, Technologies, and Applications

Citation

Andrew, A.M. (2002), "Coordination of Internet Agents: Models, Technologies, and Applications", Kybernetes, Vol. 31 No. 3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2002.06731cae.001

Coordination of Internet Agents: Models, Technologies, and Applications

edited by Andrea Omicini, Franco Zambonelli, Matthias Klusch and Robert TolksdorfSpringerHeidelberg2001ISBN 3-540-41613-7xxv + 523 pp.hardback, £34.00 or $49.95

The central topic of this book is important and topical. Although much of the fascination and value of the Internet can be attributed to its largely spontaneous development, there is also a need for structure. This is perhaps most readily apparent in connection with security and commercial transactions, but the possibilities go well beyond this, and agent-based operation is now talked about in much the same way as object-oriented programming. Computation can be a shared activity of a community of agents. Thinking along these lines is clearly behind such recent developments as the extensible markup language XML and the C# (C sharp) language introduced by Microsoft. XML allows for inter-agent communications initiated by the software rather than the user.

The book has eighteen chapters by different groups of authors. These are divided into six Parts, and there is an introductory Preface that includes an overview of the contents. There is no subject index, but there is a common reference list of no fewer than 660 items. It is interesting to note that a sprinkling of these refer to societal organisation in general and in particular that the book by Axelrod (1984) is included.

The topic is treated in the book in a very general, academic way, with comparison of alternative overall models for coordinated action. The Preface does not give clear orientation for a reader not already involved in the topic, depending as it does on such terms as "perspective" and "paradigm" and "infrastructure". This is not to say that the treatment is not sound and pertinent; on the contrary it is in the context of diffuse emerging technology such as this that it can be most valuable to stand back and take a general view.

In the Preface, the book's contents are outlined as:

In this book, the authors of the chapters write about models, technologies, and applications for the coordination of Internet agents. So, this book starts with a birds-eye view on coordination models (Part I), maps models onto technologies for Internet-based (Part II) and multi-agent (Part III) systems, and explores the emerging related issues from both a conceptual and a technological viewpoint (Part IV). Then, it deals with the application issues (Part V) and ends by supplying some visions on the future (Part VI).

The two papers in Part I make references to Linda-like systems, with even the comment that references to coordination languages are sometimes assumed to refer to the particular (and early and effective) example so denoted. Early papers describing Linda are Carriero and Gelernter (1989, 1990). The earlier of these describes it purely as a means of achieving parallel operation in a single machine, though the later one refers to its possible use to control parallel operation of distinct computers, possibly programmed in different internal languages, in a local area network.

Of the two papers in the final Part, on "Visions", the first describes a market- based model for resource allocation, requiring a form of currency with which to purchase the services of a resource. Some such regulation will presumably become necessary. The second paper refers to the intriguing idea of computational ecosystems.

There is clearly a great deal of valuable and thought-provoking material here. It is in a rather specialised and esoteric form and the book will not be of much help to someone who just wants to learn to use the relevant offerings of the software houses implementing for example XML and C#.

Alex M. Andrew