Review of:
Xue, F. and Li, K.
Deploying Java mobile agents in a project management environment.
In: Managing e-commerce and mobile computing technologies.
Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA, 2003.

The chapter title and placement starting at p. 245 might project a technical rendering of the topic. However, this is not case as the paper dedicates over half its pages to generalities, which this sampling of section headings portrays: "What is Mobile Agent Technology," "Why Mobile Agents," "When to Use Mobile Agents," and "Issues Related to Mobile Agents." The agents are characterized at more than one place in the paper, the slight variations possibly mystifying some readers as to what precisely the concept of (mobile) agent entails.

The paper becomes more specific in its later pages through its "prototype" system. A package, Voyager ORB (with Java at its base), was used but the authors bypass the opportunity to elaborate on it and how it facilitates the prototye exercise. Demonstrating a point they make, namely, that a certain ease of development attends agent systems, is thereby lost. The prototype is essentially at a client-server level; its description in agent lingo allows a claim that some key features of mobile agents, e.g., autonomy and security, have been presented. Context surrounding the prototype is used to project a future more identifiable agent application and beefing up of the "project management" connection. Some minor to annoying glitches occur, e.g., in the form of figures that aren't referenced in the text and a wrong Web address. All in all, the paper should be a quick read and might be of some value in its application context and when an overview and a few specifics suffice to meet a (basic) goal.