An application perspective evaluation of multi-agent system in versatile environments

Multi-agent systems (MAS) based computing is the most appropriate paradigm for the problem domain, where data, control, expertise or resources are distributed and also it is interesting to the user only if the technologies address the issues of interest to the user. The MAS has the hypothesis that the agent based computing offers better approach to manage the complex systems and process. They are large-scale systems and collaborate with one another to achieve their functions in a highly modular and flexible way. In this point of view, the work presented in this paper is an enhanced attempt to validate the MAS based on application perspective. As a test-bed, a distributed MAS for software testing is constructed such that to provide a hybrid testing environment based on variety of agents, which possibly incorporate several testing techniques. The developed framework is validated on two perspectives namely, efficiency of the application domain, i.e. software testing using MAS and efficiency of the proposed framework. The validation of the later case has been carried out on two conditions: regular working environment and exceptional working environment. The second type of validation provided the guidelines for implementing proper exception handling mechanism in the enhanced MAS, which is being developed for software testing Purpose.

Research highlights► This work is one of the few examples of multi-agent frameworks constructed for problem solving in software engineering field. ► The applicability of the approach is examined with the sample set of projects and based on the guidelines. ► The observed results may lead to develop new standards in the relevant field.