Constructing Intelligent Agents with Java: A Programmer's Guide to Smarter Applications [Paperback]

Joseph P. Bigus (Author), Jennifer Bigus (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471191353 | ISBN-13: 978-0471191353 | Publication Date: January 7, 1998 | Edition: 1

Intelligent Agents with Java(TM)

A Programmer's Guide to Smarter Applications

Add Artificial Intelligence to your Java applications
* Learn to design and implement agent-based reasoning, modeling, and learning
* Build your own personal assistants, Web agents, e-commerce agents, and multiagent systems.

Learn how to create intelligent agents that can automate, mediate, and administer basic business functions.

Java makes it easier than ever for programmers to build complex agents that reason and learn. In this book, enterprise programming experts Joe and Jennifer Bigus show you how to take advantage of Java's advanced features to differentiate your applications and build the smartest high-powered applications possible.

The authors explain the principles of Al program design using Java's object-oriented features and present the essential AI algorithms used to develop agents that reason, model, and learn to adapt to the world around them. They then show how to apply these algorithms and techniques in practical "real-world" distributed computing applications. They develop an intelligent agent architecture and use it to construct several agent-enhanced programs, including a PC management agent, an adaptive Internet news reader that filters articles based on user preferences, and an electronic marketplace application where agents do the buying and selling.

The enclosed CD-ROM gives you:
* Complete source code for Java implementations of AI search algorithms, rule-based inferencing, and neural network learning
* Java source code for three practical intelligent agent applications
* The IBM Agent Building Environment (ABE) Developer's Toolkit

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Java allows programmers to add complex features to agents, increasing the automated tasks they can perform. This book teaches programmers the fundamentals of Java-based agents, first teaching how to design agents that can reason, recognize events, model, and even learn. It then shows how to develop code for personal agents, network or Web agents, multi-agent systems, and commercial agents.

From the Back Cover

Intelligent Agents with Java(TM)

A Programmer's Guide to Smarter Applications

Add Artificial Intelligence to your Java applications
* Learn to design and implement agent-based reasoning, modeling, and learning
* Build your own personal assistants, Web agents, e-commerce agents, and multiagent systems.

Learn how to create intelligent agents that can automate, mediate, and administer basic business functions.

Java makes it easier than ever for programmers to build complex agents that reason and learn. In this book, enterprise programming experts Joe and Jennifer Bigus show you how to take advantage of Java's advanced features to differentiate your applications and build the smartest high-powered applications possible.

The authors explain the principles of Al program design using Java's object-oriented features and present the essential AI algorithms used to develop agents that reason, model, and learn to adapt to the world around them. They then show how to apply these algorithms and techniques in practical "real-world" distributed computing applications. They develop an intelligent agent architecture and use it to construct several agent-enhanced programs, including a PC management agent, an adaptive Internet news reader that filters articles based on user preferences, and an electronic marketplace application where agents do the buying and selling.

The enclosed CD-ROM gives you:
* Complete source code for Java implementations of AI search algorithms, rule-based inferencing, and neural network learning
* Java source code for three practical intelligent agent applications
* The IBM Agent Building Environment (ABE) Developer's Toolkit

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471191353
• ISBN-13: 978-0471191353
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,122,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Who is this book intended for?, October 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Constructing Intelligent Agents with Java: A Programmer's Guide to Smarter Applications (Paperback)

When I first saw this book it looked very promising. Unfortunately it isn't. Although this book appears to be written for people who are experienced programmers, it spends time teaching basic concepts. The first chapter is an "Intro to Java" including a discussion about what data types are available in Java. The remainder of the first half of the book teaches simple AI techniques. Why was paper wasted on such trivial topics? If somebody wants to learn about Java they would be better off buying an introductory Java book. If they want to learn about basic AI they would learn more with an introductory AI book. I could understand it if the authors spent a little time touching on the basic concepts, but devoting half the book to them is a waste. The second half of the book is slightly more useful but it doesn't make up for the first half (or the fact that much of the example code doesn't work). If the book were cut in half with the second half being sold for 1/2 price, then the book might be worth it. But as it is now, it is a waste of money.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Problems with software, February 11, 2000

By 

Carl Schaefer (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Constructing Intelligent Agents with Java: A Programmer's Guide to Smarter Applications (Paperback)

Following several unsuccessful attempts to get the NewsFilter application to work using JDK 1.1.8, I am convinced that the non-functioning software is a serious impediment to learning the material presented in the book, regardless of how well written the prose. I did like the introduction to Java and AI in the beginning of the book to set the stage for the actual demonstration projects later in the book, however, I agree with several other reviewers that these topics can not be adequately covered in the number of pages allocated. Overall, I was very disappointed with the book and would not recommend the book, particularly given its relatively high price.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars well written book but software is flawed, March 26, 1998

By 

John Moore<[e-mail]> (Irving, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Constructing Intelligent Agents with Java: A Programmer's Guide to Smarter Applications (Paperback)

The book is extremely well written and it's audience is for the business application developer. Unfortunately, some of the software doesn't work. The RulesApplet was written in Java JDK 1.0.2 but the JDK 1.1.x version is required. Consequently, the applet won't run at all. I am only halfway through and haven't tested all of the other software, but there are no patches on the publisher's web site and the documentation states that the publisher offers no support for the software.