OBJECT AND AGENTS:
Love at First Sight or Shotgun Wedding?
Aarhus, Denmark, Monday August 7, 1995,
ECOOP,
Workshops.
AUDIENCE
This workshop brings together researchers working on the design and
implementation of new object-oriented languages that integrate the
concept of Software Agents into the Object-Oriented paradigm.
This workshop aims to be more than just a forum for discussion, the
expected output is a position paper describing open issues and
research directions in the definition of Agent Languages.
TOPIC
Software agents have been characterized as mobile and autonomous
software entities. Mobility implies that agents carry out tasks on
one or more hosts on the network. Autonomy requires that the interactions between an agent and its owner be few and far between.
Programming with agents is in many ways a new paradigm. This paradigm
requires linguistic support. Programming languages and systems that
address those requirements are starting to appear, example of those
are Telescript and M0.
The question raised by this workshop is how objects and agents can be
integrated in one framework. It appears clear that agent-oriented
programming will require special support from the environment, the
programming language and the operating system. How do objects fit in
this new picture?
The goal of this workshop is to identify issues and requirements.
Software agents imply a shift in our view of computer communication.
Instead of exchanging passive data, computer systems will communicate
by exchanging active programs. The requirements and issues are likely
to be different than those of other forms of distributed computing.
The following list may provide a starting point for the discussion:
- MOBILITY:
Issues related to mobility. How will agents find their
way around a large and heterogeneous set of hosts? How will agent
traffic be regulated? How will we be able to recall or kill an
autonomous entity?
- PROTECTION: Issues related to protection of the resources of the
hosts. How will the host impose limits on the agent's actions?
How will the host negotiate payment for the use of its
resources?
- PRIVACY and INTEGRITY: Issues related to protection of the information that is embedded in the agents themselves and protection
from alterations.
- PROTOCOLS: Issues related to communication between agents.
- INTEROPERABILITY: Issues related to hardware and software
independence.
- MONEY: Issues related to cost of resources and services.
DURATION
The workshop will last one full day. A dinner will be organized in the
evening.
HOW TO APPLY
In order to keep the workshop focused, all prospective participants will
submit a problem statement. This should take the form of a short note
describing one open issue to be discussed at the workshop. The position
statements should be submitted via e-mail to:
ecoopws@cui.unige.ch
FORMAT
The organizers will select a number of discussion topics from the
submissions. Each topic will be the subject of a short presentation
by the author. This presentation is limited to a few minutes and is
meant to introduce one problem area. This should set the stage for the
day's working discussion.
ACCEPTANCE
Acceptance in this workshop is limited. Problem statements will be accepted on the basis of their relevance to the topic.
WORKSHOP ORGANIZATION
Jan Vitek
University of Geneva
Object Systems Group,
24, rue Général-Dufour
CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
e-mail: jvitek@cui.unige.ch
http://cuiwww.unige.ch/OSG/Vitek/HomePage.html
Oscar Nierstrasz
Institut für Informatik (IAM)
Universität Bern
Neubrückstrasse 10
CH-3012 Bern
SWITZERLAND
e-mail: oscar@iam.unibe.ch
http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~oscar
Christian Frédéric Tschudin
Maître Assistant
Université de Genève
Centre Universitaire d'Informatique
24, rue Général-Dufour
CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
Tel: (+41 22) 705 76 44 or (+41 22) 705 77 60 (secr)
Fax: (+41 22) 705 77 80
e-mail: tschudin@cui.unige.ch
http://cuisun9.unige.ch/Telecom-group/members/tschudin.html