On the one hand, the field of [[Product Family Engineering|Software Product Line]]s (SPL) covers all the [[software]] development lifecycle necessary to develop a family of products where the derivation of concrete products is made systematically and rapidly. On the other hand, '''Agent-Oriented Software Engineering''' (AOSE) is a new software engineering [[paradigm]] that arose to apply best practice in the development of complex [[Multi-agent systems|Multi-Agent Systems]] (MAS) by focusing on the use of agents, and organizations (communities) of agents as the main abstractions. The field of [[Product Family Engineering|Software Product Line]]s (SPL) covers all the [[software]] development lifecycle necessary to develop a family of products where the derivation of concrete products is made systematically and rapidly.
==Commentary==
Following a rather false start, agent technology has begun to come into its own. With the advent of biologically-inspired, pervasive, and [[autonomic computing]], the advantages of, and necessity of, agent-based technologies and MASs has become obvious{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}. Unfortunately, current AOSE methodologies are dedicated to developing single MASs. Clearly, many MASs will make use of significantly the
same techniques, adaptations, and approaches. The field is thus ripe for exploiting the benefits of SPL: reduced costs, improved time-to-market, etc. and enhancing agent technology in such a way that it is more industrially applicable.
