The reuse policy in developing multi-agent system

The agent-oriented (AO) methodology is an effective means for constructing distributed systems. Despite a great deal of research, a number of challenges still exist before making agent-based computing a widely accepted paradigm in software engineering practice. In order to solve the problem of ldquoa variety in number, difficult to applyrdquo, the paper presents a hierarchical development architecture (HDA) for customizing a new AO methodology according to the given project. Through applying the HDA-based meta models and design patterns, developers can build applications from third party off-the-shelf solution components. To exemplify its feasibility and effectiveness, the construction of C4I system is presented as a case study.