Full Seminar Details
Professor John Mylopoulos
University of Toronto/Trento
This event took place on Tuesday 19 April 2005 at 11:00
In his classic book titled "The Science of the Artificial" (published in 1969) Herbert Simon laments the fact that design is not taught in Engineering Schools, which instead clamor for scientific respectability. He then sketches what he calls a "Science of Design" whose basic ingredients include a logic of alternatives and a means-ends analysis for selecting "good enough" designs.
We review some of the history of Software Engineering since 1968 and discuss some the underlying concepts of Structured and Object-Oriented Software Development. We then focus on Agent-Oriented Software Development and argue that, unlike its older cousins, it supports the fundamental concepts that underly Simon's vision of a Science of Design. We also sketch a particular Agent-Orinted Software Development methodology, called Tropos, and the kind of tool support that it entails.
The research reported in this presentation was conducted with colleagues at the Universities of Toronto (Canada) and Trento (Italy).
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We are also inviting top experts in AI and Knowledge Technologies to discuss major socio-technological topics with an audience that comprises both members of the Knowledge Media Institute, as well as the wider staff at The Open University. Differently from our seminar series, these events follow a Q&A format.
