Mobile Object Systems towards the Programmable Internet Second International Workshop, MOS'96, Linz, Austria, July 1996

Citation

Wallace, A.I. (1998), "Mobile Object Systems towards the Programmable Internet Second International Workshop, MOS'96, Linz, Austria, July 1996", Internet Research, Vol. 8 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/intr.1998.17208caf.006

Mobile Object Systems towards the Programmable Internet Second International Workshop, MOS'96, Linz, Austria, July 1996

Mobile Object Systems towards the Programmable Internet Second International Workshop, MOS'96, Linz, Austria, July 1996

Edited by J. Vitek and C. Tschudin1997Springer, Berlin319 pp.ISBN 3-540-62852-5. Available from Springer-Verlag GmbH &Co. KG, Postoffice 311340 D-10643 Berlin, Tel: (030) 827870; Fax: (030) 8214091.

Keywords: Computation, Computer languages, Computer networks,Computer programming

This volume, Mobile Object Systems towards the Programmable Internet, is a collection of papers treating different aspects of mobile agents and mobile object systems. Mobile object systems are defined by the editors in the introduction as "self-contained and autonomous groups of objects". They carry out a computation for an end-user in some initial computation environment and may dynamically change their environment for one that is on a remote computer. Within this broad view, the whole network/Internet could then be viewed as a vast programmable environment. The editors also state that there is a close relationship between mobile agents and mobile object systems since both have a focus on software mobility.

The core of this book is made up of reworked versions of papers that were presented at the Second International Workshop on Mobile Object Systems (Linz, Austria, July 1996). To broaden the scope of this volume, the editors invited a number of researchers to contribute reprints of selected papers and also commissioned new pieces. This book is also part of the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science Series (Vol. 1, p. 222).

The book has been organised into three sections:

1. 1.

   Foundations.

2. 2.

   Concepts.

3. 3.

   Implementation.

The first section, Foundations, consists of five chapters and develops the background and motivation that many researchers use in the mobile object systems area. Two of the chapters deal primarily with issues in mobile computing. The second chapter in this section, which provides an overview of objects and their operations, was written by Tsichritzis. Also included is a chapter which highlights the differences between distributed and local computing, and a chapter that explores a mode of communication that is based on instruction rather than interpretation. Three out of the five chapters are reprints of papers which were previously published. The previously published papers all have a section following them which provides an update on the paper.

The second section, Concepts, comprises eight chapters and provides descriptions of various systems and concepts for mobile computations. Five chapters deal specifically with mobile object language implementation. Four chapters present new languages that have been developed using existing languages, while one chapter provides an overview of existing languages. Two chapters in this section deal with security issues relevant to mobile object systems. There is a chapter written by de Silva, which provides an excellent overview of object persistence and the role the author anticipates that it will play in the future.

The final section, Implementation, comprises five chapters. The papers in this section provide details of various mobile object system considerations and techniques. There are three more chapters in this section describing mobile object languages. Two of these chapters describe new languages which are extensions to existing languages, while one chapter describes how two existing languages (Java and Telescript) can interact together. The chapter written by Franz presents the Slim binary mobile-code format, a machine-independent software distribution format which has significant advantages over linear byte-code format. Acharya and Saltz contribute a chapter that presents a compiler-directed technique for the safe dynamic linking of mobile programs.

In the preface, Denis Tsichritzis states: "This book should be considered as a forum for discussion of mobile agents". As such, the book does provide coverage of a variety of topics in the mobile object area of research. The book also provides a starting place for the discussion of mobile object computing.

The structure of the book would enable a reader who has very little knowledge of mobile object computing, to read the book from cover to cover and receive a good understanding of the issues relevant to mobile objects. Advanced readers will find several chapters of interest. The volume includes a glossary of key terms of mobile object systems area of research, which readers with limited knowledge in this area would find very useful.

In summary, the book identifies many issues, both conceptual and related to the implementation of mobile agents and mobile-object systems. The book provides an excellent resource for readers who wish to gain an overview of current research topics within the area of mobile object systems.

Alastair I. WallaceDepartment of Information SystemsUniversity of Tasmania