Research Article

Which paradigm should I use? An analytical comparison of the client–server, remote evaluation and mobile agent paradigms

  1. Antonio Puliafito1,*,
  2. Salvatore Riccobene2,
  3. Marco Scarpa3

Article first published online: 27 FEB 2001

DOI: 10.1002/cpe.548

Issue

Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience

Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience

Special Issue: High performance agent systems

Volume 13, Issue 1, pages 71–94, January 2001

Additional Information

How to Cite

Puliafito, A., Riccobene, S. and Scarpa, M. (2001), Which paradigm should I use? An analytical comparison of the client–server, remote evaluation and mobile agent paradigms. Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, 13: 71–94. doi: 10.1002/cpe.548

Author Information

  1. 1

    Dipartimento di Matematica - Contrada Papardo, S. Speroni, 98166 Messina, Italy

  2. 2

    Dipartimento di Matematica - V. le A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy

  3. 3

    Istituto di Informatica e Telecomunicazioni - V. le A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy

*Dipartimento di Matematica - Contrada Papardo, S. Speroni, 98166 Messsina, Italy

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 27 FEB 2001
  2. Article first published online: 27 FEB 2001
  3. Manuscript Revised: 28 APR 2000
  4. Manuscript Received: 9 OCT 1999

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Keywords:

  • client-server;
  • remote evaluation;
  • mobile agents;
  • performance analysis;
  • Petri nets

Abstract

In this paper we deal with the study of the actual convenience of using the agent programming paradigm for accesssing distributed service. We try to point out the benefits of such a communication paradigm, by providing an analytical study of its basic features in comparison with the client–server approach and remote evaluation. The aim of the paper is to show how the Petri net analysis technique can be used for deciding whether to use traditional client/server, remote evaluation or mobile agents paradigm in designing a particular evaluation. So, we present several models of non-Markovian Petri nets, which have been solved through the WebSPN tool, and we provide a close comparison between the agents technique, the client-server and the remote evaluation communication paradigm. The results that we have obtained show how agents must not always be considered the only solution to any communication issue, since in several cases their use might even reveal a drawback. We also focus out attention on providing some practical remarks, which can help the developer during the design in order to select the communication paradigm which best suits the features of the application that has to be developed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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