Multi-Agent Spiral Software Engineering: A Lakatosian Approach

Abstract

This paper presents an epistemological approach for the development and validation of an original agent oriented software development methodology (see [Wautelet05a, Wautelet05b]). Agent orientation has been widely presented as a new modeling, design and programming paradigm that could be adopted to build systems mark to the determinant advantages it offers. This will be exposed and put into perspective in the paper through the Lakatosian approach. Spiral development (see [Boehm00a]) has become popular, especially through object-oriented software project development since it allows efficient software project management, continuous organizational modeling and requirements acquisition, early implementation, continuous testing and modularity, etc. The iterative nature of this requirements engineering process will be studied here through Herbert Simon's bounded rationality principle and Popper's knowledge growth principle but nuanced by Lakatos falsification principle criticism