On Software Complexity of Agent-Oriented Logic Programs: an Empirical Analysis

Recently we have been involved in a number of research activities concerning the application of artificial intelligence programming techniques for the implementation of agent-based programs in different domains. We focused on combining agent-oriented and logic programming, following the knowledge representation and reasoning tradition of classical artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, this work targeted various application domains, including logistics, patrolling games, e-business agents, reinforcement learning, as well as modeling and simulation of dynamic systems. The aim of this paper is to briefly introduce some of our experiences obtained by carrying out these tasks. We highlight the characteristics of agent oriented logic programming in the context of software engineering, and with a focus on formal approaches for software development. The paper briefly reports some of the lessons learnt from the practical application of agent-oriented and logic programming languages including ECLiPSe-CLP and AgentSpeak(L) / Jason. Our main intention is to promote agent-oriented programming based on logical reasoning that is traditionally the focus of artificial intelligence research, from the more pragmatic perspective of software engineering practices. Agent-oriented and logic programming were traditionally promoted by the multi-agent systems and artificial intelligence communities. They are usually associated to artificial intelligence and intelligent agents academic curricula, as well as to research projects in artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, an increasing practical interest in these topics is also manifested inside the software engineering commu-