Pitfalls of agent-oriented development

While the theoretical and experimental foundations of agent-based nyrrtems arc becoming increasingly well understood, comparatively little effort hns been devoted to understanding the pragmatics of (muitl-Jagent systems development -the everyday reality of carrying out an agent-based development project. As a result, agent nyetcm devciopcrs are needlessly repeating the same mistakes, with the result that, at best, resources are wasted -at worst, projects fnii. This paper identifies the main pitfalls that await the agent system developer, nnd where possible, makes tentative recommendations for how these pitfalls can be avoided or rectified.