Agent-Oriented Software Engineering
Preface
This is a systematic guide about the future form of software engineering. When large model agents possess powerful execution capabilities, human core value will completely shift from “How to implement” to “What to implement” and “Why implement it.”
This book systematically explores the complete path of transition from traditional software engineering to “Agent-Oriented Software Engineering.” Whether you are a technical manager, architect, developer, or entrepreneur, you can gain profound insights and practical guidelines about the future of software engineering from this book.
Reading Suggestions
- Progressive Reading: This book is organized in a progressive logic of “Understanding → Transition → Practice → Outlook,” it is recommended to read in order
- Combine with Practice: Each chapter comes with practical templates and checklists, it is recommended to try them out in your team while reading
- Continuous Iteration: Agent-oriented software engineering is still rapidly evolving, maintain an open mindset and continuously adjust your understanding
Core Concepts Overview
| Concept | Definition |
|---|---|
| Intent | Clear expression of “what is wanted” and “why,” rather than “how to do it” |
| Business Intent | Top-level business goals, describing value propositions and business logic |
| Constraint Network | Five-dimensional quality space from passive documentation to executable code (architecture, complexity, security, performance, maintainability), serving as the “quality contract” for human-AI collaboration and the “real-time textbook” for agents |
| Agent Engineer | Technical role evolving from the execution layer to the orchestration layer, acting as the “chief architect” commanding agent clusters to deliver complex systems |
Table of Contents
Part I: Foundational Concepts
- Chapter 1: What is Agent-Oriented Software Engineering
- Chapter 2: Why This Transformation is Necessary
- Chapter 3: Core Differences Between Old and New Paradigms
- Chapter 4: Four Stages of Transition
Part II: Evolution and Transformation
- Chapter 5: Reconstruction of Development Process
- Chapter 6: From Traditional Teams to Atomic Teams
- Chapter 7: New Documentation Paradigm Coming soon
- Chapter 8: Agent Action Protocol Coming soon
Part III: Practical Implementation
- Chapter 9: How Managers Guide Team Transformation Coming soon
- Chapter 10: Software Engineers Evolving into Agent Engineers Coming soon
- Chapter 11: The Evolution of Product Managers Coming soon
- Chapter 12: Transformation of Test, Ops, and SRE Engineers Coming soon
- Chapter 13: Legacy System Migration Strategy Coming soon
- Chapter 14: Capturing and Inheriting Tacit Knowledge Coming soon
Part IV: Future Perspectives
- Chapter 15: Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the New Software Engineering Field Coming soon
- Chapter 16: Reflections and Warnings from 2050 Coming soon
- Chapter 17: Books That Will Retain Value in the Future Coming soon