| Building software to solve contemporary business problems is no easy task. Over the last decade there has been an increasing focus on object-oriented notations and modelling languages, perhaps at the expense of a full methodological approach to solving the problem and giving software developers the tools they need to comprehensively create applications within management and market constraints—money, time, quality, and so forth. With increasingly sophisticated applications being demanded by businesses aiming for a competitive market advantage, object technologies are being supplemented and complemented by agent technologies. This is especially true in areas such as ambient intelligence, e-business, Web services, peer-to-peer networks, and bioinformatics. These areas demand software that is robust, can operate within a wide range of environments, can evolve over time to cope with changing requirements, is highly customizable to meet the needs of a wide range of users, and is sufficiently secure to protect personal data and other assets on behalf of its stakeholders. To fulfil these requirements, builders of systems need an appropriate agent-oriented methodology—the topic of this book. |