Software Construction Oriented Multi-agent Collaborative Modeling and Simulation

Improper collaboration frequency causes low efficiency in software development. To improve collaboration efficiency in software construction, we propose a method of multi-agent collaborative modeling and simulation. First, we propose collective action model and individual action model to describe the whole construction environment. Then, we design agents in our simulation, establish a mapping relationship between artificial bee colonies and developers group, and propose buzz factor as a parameter to describe the collaboration frequency. In particular, we introduce Q-learning algorithm to obtain the dynamic buzz factor that maximizes construction efficiency. Finally, we perform experiments on groups of agents based on our model to observe the effect of buzz factor. Comparing to the classic feature-oriented stigmergy-based model, our experiment results show a better construction efficiency and provide a reference for controlling the collaboration. Through our work, we can find a suitable collaboration frequency through the simulation, to guide the practice of software development.