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Jason is an interpreter for an extended version of AgentSpeak. It implements the operational semantics of that language, and provides a platform for the development of multi-agent systems, with many user-customisable features. Jason is available as Open Source, and is distributed under GNU LGPL.
One of the best known approaches to the development of cognitive agents is the BDI (Beliefs-Desires-Intentions) architecture. In the area of agent-oriented programming languages in particular, AgentSpeak has been one of the most influential abstract languages based on the BDI architecture. The type of agents programmed with AgentSpeak are sometimes referred to as reactive planning systems. To the best of our knowledge, Jason is the first fully-fledged interpreter for a much improved version of AgentSpeak, including also speech-act based inter-agent communication. Using Saci (for example), a Jason multi-agent system can be distributed over a network effortlessly. Various ad hoc implementations of BDI systems exist, but one important characteristic of AgentSpeak is its theoretical foundation: it is an implementation of the operational semantics, formally given to the AgentSpeak language and most of the extensions available in Jason. Work on formal verification of AgentSpeak systems is also underway (see the manual in the Documentation page for further references). The language interpreted by Jason is an extension of the abstract programming language called AgentSpeak(L), originally created by Anand Rao.
Last modified 16 December 2024