A Programming Language for Normative Multi-Agent Systems

Multi-agent systems are viewed as consisting of individual agents whose behaviors are regulated by an organizational artifact. This chapter presents a programming language that aims at facilitating the implementation of norm-based organizational artifacts. The programming language is presented in two steps. We first present a programming language that is designed to support the implementation of non-normative organizational artifacts. Such artifacts are specified in terms of non-normative concepts such as the identity of participating agents, the identity of the constituting environments in which individual agents can perform actions and the agents’ access relation to the environments. The programming language is then modified and extended to support the implementation of norm-based artifacts. Such artifacts are specified in terms of norms being enforced by monitoring, regimenting and sanctioning mechanisms. The syntax and operational semantics of the programming language are discussed and explained by means of a conference management system example.