Toward a new aspect-mining approach for multi-agent systems

•A semi-automatic hybrid aspect mining approach for agent-oriented code is proposed.•The approach is based on both static and dynamic analyzes.•Identifying cross-cutting concerns in existing multi-agent systems code is the main motivation.•The proposed approach is supported by a software tool called...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of systems and software Vol. 98; pp. 9 - 24
Main Authors: Zerrougui, Salim, Mokhati, Farid, Badri, Mourad
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Elsevier Inc 01.12.2014
Elsevier Sequoia S.A
Subjects:
Agents (artificial intelligence)
Aspect mining
Aspect-oriented programming
Coding theory
Computer programs
Data mining
Dynamic tests
Evolution
Expert systems
Intelligent agents
Mining
Multi-agent systems
Software
Software engineering
Studies
Aspect mining
Aspect-oriented programming
Multi-agent systems
ISSN:0164-1212, 1873-1228
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:•A semi-automatic hybrid aspect mining approach for agent-oriented code is proposed.•The approach is based on both static and dynamic analyzes.•Identifying cross-cutting concerns in existing multi-agent systems code is the main motivation.•The proposed approach is supported by a software tool called MAMIT. Many aspect mining techniques have been proposed for object-oriented systems. Unfortunately, aspect mining for multi-agent systems is an unexplored research area. The inherent specificities of multi-agent systems (such as autonomy, pro-activity, reactivity, and adaptability) make it difficult to understand, reuse and maintain their code. We propose, in this paper, a (semi-automatic) hybrid aspect mining approach for agent-oriented code. The technique is based on both static and dynamic analyzes. The main motivations of this work are (1) identifying cross-cutting concerns in existing agent-oriented code, and (2) making them explicitly available to software engineers involved in the evolution of agent-oriented code in order to facilitate its refactoring and, consequently, to improve its understandability, reusability and maintainability. The proposed approach is supported by a software tool, called MAMIT (MAS Aspect-MIning Tool), that we developed. The approach and the associated tool are illustrated using a concrete case study.
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ISSN:0164-1212
1873-1228
DOI:10.1016/j.jss.2014.08.030