Multi-Agent System: A Guiding Metaphor for the Organization of Software Development Projects

In this work we propose the introduction of multi-agent concepts for the organization of software development projects of (especially multi-agent) application design and implementation. This is expressed by the guiding metaphor (German: Leitbild) of a multi-agent system of developers. Team orientation and concurrent development are two aspects that are crucial in every large development project. Consequently, the organizational structure of the programming team has to take account for both. If the developed application is distributed, concurrent and team-oriented – e.g. a multi-agent application – one approach is to aim for a comparable (homomorphic) structure of a developed system and development team. We achieve this by reintroducing the multi-agent system metaphor into the organizational structure of the development team. Agent attributes such as autonomy, communication, cooperation, selforganization and the capacity for teamwork are transferred by the guiding metaphor back to team members. Concurrency and distribution of resources and processes is naturally supported by the guiding metaphor. This guiding metaphor can be applied to any project organization. However, it is best suited for the organization of multi-agent application development, due to the similarity in structure.