A Framework for Evaluation of Agent Oriented Methodologies

Methodology: GAIA Reviewer: Pedro Cuesta, Alma Gmez, Juan C. Gonzlez-Moreno, Francisco J. Rodrguez Date: January 2003

1. Development process
GAIA Aspect to be considered Explanation The application domain is beyond the scope Application domain Application areas
of the methodology. In general, methodology is intended for been applied in all areas. The areas presented below are taken from works of other authors.

Evaluation Domain Independent

Business process management GIS systems Just-in-time Production and distribution Traffic simulation Open systems Kind of lifecycle Stage1 Activities of
The system is static, it does not change at run time. Iterative inside each step, but sequential between steps.

Documented Documented Mentioned1 Documented No Iterative

Its objective is to develop an understanding of the system and its structure (without reference to any implementation detail).

ANALYSIS Requirements Analysis Design Implementation Testing User implication DESIGN

Not Focused Focused Not Focused Not Focused Not Focused Not Focused
It transforms the analysis models in a sufficiently low level of abstraction that traditional design techniques may be applied to construct the agents.

Stage2

Activities of

Requirements Analysis Design2 Implementation Testing User implication

Not Focused Partially Focused Focused Not Focused Not Focused Not Focused

1 2

Authors said they used GAIA methodology but do not explain how They talk about pre-design, for using after an OO design.

Supporting tools for Requirements Analysis Design Implementation: Code generation Oriented to a development tool Testing No No No No No No

2. Model View
Concepts and representation for: GAIA Roles Vs (1) Permissions Vs (2) Responsibilities Vs (3) Activities Liveness properties Safety properties Roles Model Roles Model Roles Model Roles Model Roles Model Roles Model

Interaction protocols Interaction Model (1)Agent Types (2)Services (or functions) (3)Acquaintances Roles, permissions, responsibilities, activities, liveness and safety properties Protocol Design Interaction Model Agent type, Instances Agent Model Functions or services (of the agent), Services Model inputs, outputs, pre-conditions, postconditions. Communication links Acquaintances Model Human interaction Relationships between models:
It is not defined in methodology how humanNo computer interaction must be modelled. Interactions Model Roles Model But it did Inputs and outputs for each service not address how to do it in the Roles Model (It must be derived from the Protocols is shown in the examples but it is not explained of the role theoretically). Acquaintance Model-Roles, protocols and Agent model. It is supposed that all the models previously defined are deliverables.

Analysis

Agent Model Services Model Acquaintances Model Roles Model

It must be derived straightforward Not explicitly defined.

Deliverables for:

3. Agent
GAIA Concept
Coarse-grained computational systems, each making use of significant computational resources. It makes no restrictions in agent architecture or kinds of agents.

Agent attributes Autonomy Social ability Reactivity/Responsiveness Proactivity Intelligence Veracity Benevolence Rationality Cooperation Communication Types Communication Protocols Co-operation Agents organisation
Only interagent communication is presented. The representation of inter-agent cooperation protocols is currently impoverished. At the moment, organisational structure is only implicitly defined.

Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown

A-A User defined Any Defined implicitly

4. Additional Features modelling

GAIA Ontological aspects Mobility features Other: Extension for Dynamic Systems Not considered Not considered
Extension due to Zambonelli. It tries to reflect organisational structures to make the system capable of changing at run-time.

5. Documentation
GAIA Available documentation Study Cases presented
Just a few articles. Some simple examples due to other authors.

Poor Partial