A Hands-On Look at Java Mobile Agents

Several companies riding the current wave of popularity of Java want to let you play in the mobile agent sandbox. Each claims that mobile agent technologies are going to change the way we live and work, and each wants to be the company that provides the breakthrough system we all end up using. What do these agent systems actually do and, more importantly, what distinguishes one agent system from another? To help answer these questions, we downloaded three of the leading commercial systems—General Magic’s Odyssey, IBM’s Aglets, and ObjectSpace’s Voyager—and looked at issues such as ease of installation, feature set, documentation, and cost. We also discuss new capabilities of Java 1.1 that show promise as simple yet powerful means to create mobile agent systems. We conclude with a brief look at the ways in which mobile agents are currently being used and the limitations of today’s technologies.