Specifying the Coordination of Agents Using 
Little-JIL




Eric K. McCall, Leon J. Osterweil, Stanley 
M. Sutton Jr.


coordination


Little-JIL, a new language for programming 
the coordination of agents is an executable, 
high-level process programming language with a formal 
(yet graphical) syntax and rigorously defined operational 
semantics. The central abstraction in Little-JIL is 
the ``step.'' Little-JIL steps serve as foci 
for coordination and provide a scoping mechanism 
for control, data, and exception flow and 
for agent and resource assignment. Steps are 
composed hierarchically, but Little-JIL processes can have 
highly dynamic structures and can include recursion 
and concurrency. Little-JIL is based on two 
main hypotheses. The first is that the 
specification of coordination control structures is separable 
from other process programming language issues. Little-JIL 
provides a rich set of control structures 
while relying on separate systems for support 
in areas such as resource, artifact, and 
agenda management. The second is that processes 
can be executed by agents who know 
how to perform their tasks but will 
benefit from coordination support. Accordingly, each step 
in Little-JIL is assigned to an execution 
agent (human or automated); agents are responsible 
for initiating steps and performing the work 
associated with them. This approach has so 
far proven effective in allowing us to 
clearly and concisely express the agent coordination 
aspects of a wide variety of software, 
workflow, and other processes.