In earlier work we have argued that formal process definitions can be useful in improving our understanding and performance of software development processes. There has, however, been considerable sentiment that formalized processes cannot capture the creative process of software design. This paper describes our experimentation with the hypothesis that both design speed and design quality can be improved through the use of formalized process definitions. Our experimentation supports this hypothesis.

Little-JIL, a language for programming coordination in processes is an executable, high-level language with a formal (yet graphical) syntax and rigorously defined operational semantics. The central abstraction in Little-JIL is the “step,” which is the focal point for coordination, providing a scoping mechanism for control, data, and exception flow and for agent and resource assignment. Steps are organized into a static hierarchy, but can have a highly dynamic execution structure including the possibility of recursion and concurrency.

Little-JIL, a new language for programming the coordination of agents, is an executable, high-level process programming language with a formal (yet graphical) syntax and rigorously defined operational semantics. Little-JIL is based on two main hypotheses. The first is that the specification of coordination control structures is separable from other process programming language issues. Little-JIL provides a rich set of control structures while relying on separate systems for support in areas such as resource, artifact and agenda management. The second hypothesis is that processes can be executed by agents who know how to perform their tasks but can benefit from coordination support. Accordingly, each step in Little-JIl is assigned to an execution agent (human or automated). These agents are responsible for initiating steps and performing the work associated with them. This approach has so far proven effective in allowing us to clearly and concisely express the agent coordination aspects of a wide variety of software, workflow and other processes.

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