- Paperback: 528 pages
- Publisher: Addison Wesley; 1 edition (4 Feb 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0201360489
- ISBN-13: 978-0201360486
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 17.2 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
206,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Information Systems > Expert Systems
- #7 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Networking & Security > Network Topics > Distributed Computing
- #40 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Algorithms > Artificial Intelligence
- See Complete Table of Contents
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Jacques Ferber guides his readers responsibly and engagingly through the best of classical AI-based agent research while opening their eyes to a powerful new version of swarm-based intelligence. I know of no other book on agents...that matches its coprehensive treatment and clear, enjoyable exposition."
Van Parunak
Centre for Electronic Commerce
"Jacques Ferber can legitimately claim to be one of the founders of the discipline that is today known as multi-agent systems. In Multi-Agent Systems, he draws on over a decade of experience as a first-rate researcher and teacher in order to set out a coherent, unified view of the field. The end result is a readable and comprehensive textbook, that will be enthusiastically received by a growing and increasingly important discipline."
Mike Wooldridge,
Queen Mary and Westfield College
"This book is easily the most comprehensive textbook on multi-agent systems and collective intelligence that I have seen. Not only does it provide very broad and insightful perspectives on such core topics as agent interaction, coordination, communication, and self-organization; it also offers the reader a number of novel and pragmatic techniques for modeling and developing complex multitasking operational systems."
(Dr.) Innes A. Ferguson,
Active On-line Systems
Van Parunak
Centre for Electronic Commerce
"Jacques Ferber can legitimately claim to be one of the founders of the discipline that is today known as multi-agent systems. In Multi-Agent Systems, he draws on over a decade of experience as a first-rate researcher and teacher in order to set out a coherent, unified view of the field. The end result is a readable and comprehensive textbook, that will be enthusiastically received by a growing and increasingly important discipline."
Mike Wooldridge,
Queen Mary and Westfield College
"This book is easily the most comprehensive textbook on multi-agent systems and collective intelligence that I have seen. Not only does it provide very broad and insightful perspectives on such core topics as agent interaction, coordination, communication, and self-organization; it also offers the reader a number of novel and pragmatic techniques for modeling and developing complex multitasking operational systems."
(Dr.) Innes A. Ferguson,
Active On-line Systems
Dr H Van Dyke Parunak Centre for Electronic Commerce, Industrial Technology Institute, Michigan
"This author guides his readers responsibly and engagingly through the best of classical A1-based agent research while opening eyes to a powerful new version of swarm-based intelligence. I know of no other book on agents....that matches its comprehensive treatment and clear, enjoyable exposition."
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I will start by telling you what this book is not. It is not a text-book describing how to implement agents in any particular language. Neither is it an 'Agents for Dummies' style book - the subject matter is not simple, and a simple book will not cover the design and implementation of agents well.
It is however an excellent text book on the theory of agents, agent systems, what exactly we can use them for. Plenty of example studies are given, showing how they can be used, and processes such as communication and awareness are covered thoroughly. The writing style is clear, and while some of it may need another read or two before matters sink in, it is explained well enough to make sense.
Consider this book a good volume on theory. Combine it with a book such as those by Wooldridge or Weiss, and you should be able to sit down and work through the design and construction of a multiagent system with ease - assuming your programming is up to scratch....
Overall, an excellent little volume. A bit of thought is needed to get the most out of it, but time invested in reading it is time well spent.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
a confusing read
11 Mar 2002
Format:Paperback
Ferber's book is a confusing read for anybody approaching the subject for the first time. He attempts to categorise multiagent systems, but many of his key terms are vague. The
accumulation of distinctions without overall purpose becomes
irritating. Despite all the classification, there is no clear overall taxonomy and no hard code. Organisation is poor. A clear taxonomy and a detailed study of an implementation for each category plus code would have made a much better book. There is useful stuff here, but finding it is like looking for matching socks in a laundry bin.
accumulation of distinctions without overall purpose becomes
irritating. Despite all the classification, there is no clear overall taxonomy and no hard code. Organisation is poor. A clear taxonomy and a detailed study of an implementation for each category plus code would have made a much better book. There is useful stuff here, but finding it is like looking for matching socks in a laundry bin.
I used the ideas from this book in my own program
30 Aug 2006
Format:Paperback
I read some other reviews about this book saying that it is confusing, etc. I was not confused. I found this book very interesting, although it is not what I originally thought it would be. Ultimately, I used ideas from this book combined with the ideas from generative programming to solve a programming problem quite successfully.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
A Horrible Translation
3 April 2002
Format:Paperback
This book was originally written in French, and whoever translated it was not paying attention when they did so. Horrible grammar and word usage mistakes detract from what would already be only a fair book. The stated purpose of the book is to unify various theories and approaches to multi-agent systems, and to this end uses a large array of redundant terminology.
I do not recommend this book at all.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Computing & Internet > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence
- Books > Computing & Internet > Computer Science > Information Systems > Expert Systems
- Books > Computing & Internet > Digital Lifestyle > Online Shopping > Amazon
- Books > Computing & Internet > Networking & Security > Network Topics > Distributed Computing
- Books > Computing & Internet > Programming > Algorithms > Artificial Intelligence
- Books > Computing & Internet > Software & Graphics
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
