The field of agent-oriented software engineering (AOSE), which is the focus of this book, is around two decades old. An agent-oriented perspective on software engineering exploits the view that the most natural way of conceptualizing certain software systems is as societies of interacting semiautonomous agents. For example, such an analysis neatly applies to a system where control is distributed over multiple stakeholders, with potentially competing interests.

This book is a collection of 16 chapters authored by 28 active researchers, covering key issues that have software engineering substance, and that are relevant to the systematic analysis, design, and implementation of agent-oriented systems.

There are five sections: an introductory section that offers an overview of agent technologies and applications, and signals the headline topics of active research in AOSE; a section on technical aspects, including software architectures, design patterns, and interagent communication languages; a section on AOSE methodologies, including a survey chapter and three more in-depth accounts of three methodologies authored by lead proponents of those specific approaches; a set of three chapters offering a state-of-the-art overview of agent programming languages and programming frameworks; and a final section comprising three illustrations of multiagent systems implementation, focusing on design considerations and support tools.

Four chapters authored by the editors are of special note: chapter 2, “Agent-Oriented Software Engineering: Revisiting the State of the Art”; chapter 4, “Multi-Agent Systems: A Software Architecture Viewpoint”; chapter 7, “The Landscape of Agent-Oriented Methodologies”; and chapter 14, “The Evolution of MAS Tools.” As the titles alone indicate, they immediately yield for the reader a birds-eye view of a 20-year history of an important subfield of software engineering.

A feature of the book is that it provides material of interest for multiple audiences: the introductory material across all sections would enable a novice to agent systems to quickly gain a feel for contemporary developments and pragmatic challenges, and also provides pointers to the modern literature to enable pursuit of identified topics. The selected in-depth material, which incorporates a great deal of systematic literature review, will allow a more experienced reader to rapidly gain a deeper appreciation of recent developments. There isn’t an integrated bibliography, but each chapter is supported by an extensive set of pointers to the specialized literature, an average of 40 references per chapter.

AOSE, as an object of study, is primarily an academic endeavor, and this book is a comprehensive introduction to the field, with contributors drawn from the major groups working in the domain. Importantly, the authors represent a broad spectrum of international activity, covering North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. Accordingly, the reader has an authentic opportunity for exposure to the state of the art. While it’s likely the dominant audience for this book will be drawn from the community of researchers and graduate students in the field, I also commend it as a valuable read for software engineering practitioners interested in fresh perspectives on distributed systems development.