Distributed software prototyping and simulation in JADE

Abstract

A prototyping and simulation tool that supports the development of distributed programs is described. This tool, called Jems, forms a part of Jade, a distributed software prototyping environment. The Jade environment provides tools for the design, implementation, debugging, testing, maintenance, and performance analysis of distributed, concurrent programs. Novel features of Jade include the support of: multi-lingual distributed programs; flexible monitoring of inter-process communication; multiple views into executing programs via a window system; graphical animation of executing programs; and the prototyping of distributed software. This paper presents an overview of the Jade environment, describes the distributed software prototyping tool, and outlines the status of the project.