Architecture for Agent Programming Languages

As the field of agent-based systems continues to expand rapidly, one of the most significant problems lies in being able to compare and evaluate the relative benefits and disadvantages of different systems. In part, this is due to the various different ways in which these systems are presented. One solution is to develop a set of architectural building blocks that can be used as a basis for further construction (to avoid re-inventing wheels), and to ensure a strong and effective, yet simple and accessible, means of presentation that allows for comparison and analysis of agent systems. In this paper, we address this issue in providing just such an architectural framework by using the 3APL agent programming language as a starting point for identification and specification of more general individual agent components. This provides three additional benefits: it moves the work further down the road of implementation, contributes to a growing library of agent techniques and features, and allows a detailed comparison of different agent-based systems specified in similar ways.