Performance-Oriented Implementation Strategies for a Mobile Agent Language

The use of larger and more complex mobile agents in distributed applications has created a need for agent programming systems that deliver better performance. The implementation of Extended Facile, a mobile agent language, uses several strategies to boost performance. We review four main techniques: allowing agents to use different transmissible representations, optimistically transmitting machine code with agents, stripping agents of data and code that can be found at their recipients before transmitting them, and performing agent compilation lazily. Quantitative measurements show that these methods can boost absolute and relative performance.