JIAC (Java-based Intelligent Agent Componentware) is a Java-based architecture and framework that eases the development and the operation of large-scale, distributed applications and services. The Framework supports the design, implementation, and deployment of software agent systems. The entire software development process, from conception to deployment of full software systems, is supported by JIAC. It also allows for the possibility of reusing applications and services, and even modifying them during runtime. The focal points of JIAC are distribution, scalability, adaptability and autonomy.

JIAC IV applications can be developed using extensive functionality that is provided in a library. This library consists of already-prepared services, components, and agents which can be integrated into an application in order to perform standard tasks. The individual agents are based on a component architecture which already provides the basic functionality for communication and process management. Application-specific functionality can be provided by the developer and be interactively integrated. In addition to the common JIAC IV-Framework, domain-specific extensions have been implemented that facilitate the quick and simple development of domain applications such as Next Generation Services.

The JIAC IV Toolipse provides an integrated development environment for JIAC IV services and applications. The Toolipse is a collection of tools that ease the work with JIAC IV. It also integrates seemlessly into the accustomed working environment of a Java developer.

With the help of the JIAC IV Toolipse you create and manage JIAC IV projects. A number of editors offer support for the development of ontologies, agent plans, and services, and let you create agent configurations. You may also start agents and agent platforms immediately in order to test your services and applications.

The JIAC IV Toolipse comes with extensive aids to guide beginners and advanced learners. You may start with the interactive tutorial that builds a simple seller-buyer scenario. The help system also provides information about ontologies, the JIAC Agent Definition Language (JADL) and how to configure JIAC agents properly from pre-built standard configurations.

MicroJIAC is a lightweight agent architecture and framework that eases the development of applications for different kind of devices. It is Java-based and supports the Java 2 Platform Standard and Micro Edition (J2ME/J2SE).

MicroJIAC

• is runnable on devices of different categories. The field of application reaches from heavily constrained embedded and mobile devices, to more powerful desktop and server systems.
• allows the implementation of scalable and device independent agents. This means that is hides platform specific capabilities and provides a basic abstraction layer.
• eases agent development and provides build and deployment utilities.
• offers a communication infrastructure which abstracts from specific network and transport protocols.

The Agent World Editor is a tool for designing multi-agent systems and generating executable agent code. The tool also unifies the handling of different agent frameworks through an abstract agent model and an extensible transformation infrastructure. Currently, the tool supports three different agent frameworks of
the JIAC family, and we feel confident that the approach holds for other
frameworks as well as for the generation of multi-agent systems on heterogenous
platforms.

The VSDT is a well-equipped BPMN editor that is independent of any specific target language. Thus, while the usual transformation to BPEL, as well as other transformations, is included, the VSDT can easily be extended with additional export functionality targeting other languages. For that purpose, the individual transformations are subdivided into several stages, so that large parts can be reused throughout different mappings, for instance the challenging transformation of the control flow. Further, a simple expression language can be used at modelling time, so that even the expressions can be translated to match the target language.