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Cynthia Nikolai and Gregory Madey (2009)

Tools of the Trade: A Survey of Various Agent Based Modeling Platforms

Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation vol. 12, no. 2 2
<https://www.jasss.org/12/2/2.html>

For information about citing this article, click here

Received: 29-Jul-2008    Accepted: 05-Mar-2009    Published: 31-Mar-2009

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* Abstract

Agent Based Modeling (ABM) toolkits are as diverse as the community of people who use them. With so many toolkits available, the choice of which one is best suited for a project is left to word of mouth, past experiences in using particular toolkits and toolkit publicity. This is especially troublesome for projects that require specialization. Rather than using toolkits that are the most publicized but are designed for general projects, using this paper, one will be able to choose a toolkit that already exists and that may be built especially for one's particular domain and specialized needs. In this paper, we examine the entire continuum of agent based toolkits. We characterize each based on 5 important characteristics users consider when choosing a toolkit, and then we categorize the characteristics into user-friendly taxonomies that aid in rapid indexing and easy reference.

Keywords:
Agent Based Modeling, Individual Based Model, Multi Agent Systems

* Introduction

1.1
In the past few years, several seminal ABM surveys have emerged. They are a giant stride in the right direction, but current surveys generally are limited to four or five mainstay and characteristically or historically similar toolkits (Castle 2006; Railsback 2006; Tobias 2004). Moreover, these surveys are presented from the point of view and for the intended audience of one or two communities of interest (Castle 2006; Railsback 2006; Serenko 2002; Tobias 2004). However, different groups of users prefer different and sometimes conflicting aspects of a toolkit. For example, social scientists, who may have little or no programming experience, are concerned more with ease of use, the degree of programming skills required, and the inclusion of intuitive interfaces to manage simulations. Many, in general, are not concerned about whether the software is open source or restricted open source. To computer scientists, however, the type of license that governs the toolkit is a big consideration; they want the ability to "get behind the scenes" of a toolkit and to have the programming flexibility to modify or extend the software with third party applications if necessary. They also generally prefer saving execution time by programming simulations themselves rather than using built-in interfaces, which usually are less computationally efficient. Teachers of ABM, on the other hand, want packages that are easy to learn, that offer pedagogical insights, and that provide the student with the ability to transition to more difficult and comprehensive toolkits in the future.

1.2
In this paper we address the issues of the broader ABM community. This paper is a survey of the toolkits that are available today and how they compare to each other from an interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder perspective. Our goal is to provide users with the ability to better choose a suitable toolkit based on the features abstracted from various documentation and compiled into an easy to use compendium. In addition, we expand the ABM body of knowledge to include information about a breadth of characteristically and historically diverse platforms.

1.3
This work is the result of ongoing research into various characteristics of ABM toolkits. In this paper, we examine 5 characteristics across the spectrum of toolkits: programming language required to create a model or simulation, operating system required to run the toolkit, type of license governing the platform, primary domain for which the toolkit is intended, and degree of support available to the user of the toolkit.

1.4
This paper is structured as follows. First, we begin with some limitations of current ABM surveys. This is followed by a comparison of the characteristics of various toolkits in the form of tabular taxonomies followed by a text explanation. Finally, we conclude the paper with a full representation of features for each toolkit in a quick and easy to use matrix format.

* Related Work

2.1
In the last few years, the ABM community has made giant strides in developing practical agent based modeling toolkits that enable individuals to develop significantly sized applications. More and more such toolkits are coming into existence, and each toolkit has a variety of characteristics. Some toolkits are built for general purpose modeling and some are built for a particular domain. Some are open source, some are closed source, and others are proprietary. Some toolkits have a simple user interface, and others require complex programming techniques. Several individuals have made attempts to compare toolkits to each other. One of the seminal papers has been the investigation by Railsback, Lytinen, and Jackson (2006). In this paper, the authors examine four main platforms: NetLogo, Mason, Repast, and Swarm. They create a template, called a "StupidModel," for various levels from which to evaluate and compare toolkits to each other. For example, for level 1, they examine the underlying environment and how various toolkits display agents in their environment. With each new level, they add more capabilities and examine how each toolkit compares to the others. For level 2, they add more agent actions and examine how different platforms implement scheduling for these actions. They continue adding more capabilities through 15 different levels, through which they examine characteristics such as environmental issues, model structure, agent scheduling, file input and output, random number generation, and statistical capabilities.

2.2
This survey is a great step in the right direction, but the main limitation is that it only examines 4 platforms. In addition, most of the toolkits are historically similar in nature. Even to the extent that Swarm and Mason were designed as general purpose toolkits, Repast was designed for social scientific use, and NetLogo was intended as an educational tool, three of the toolkits are descendants of Swarm, while one is descended from an educational lineage. Our work differs from Railsback et al, in three main respects. First, we expand the ABM body. We consider not only general or mainstay toolkits from the same lineage, but we also consider less well known and diverse specialized platforms as well. A second difference is that in this paper, we do not evaluate toolkits as better or worse than others. Our goal is to present the facts and to let the reader choose which toolkit is the most suitable match for his/her project. In future continuation of this work, we hope to "get under the hood" and do a more comparative study of the toolkits. Finally, whereas Railsback et al evaluate four toolkits in depth, this work only scratches the surface of the toolkits. For now, we only examine 5 characteristics that individuals examine when attempting to choose a toolkit for their project.

2.3
The second main ABM survey is by Castle and Crooks (2006). In this paper, Castle and Crooks examine 8 simulation platforms: Swarm, Mason, Repast, StarLogo, NetLogo, Obeus, AgentSheets, and AnyLogic. They have a particular focus on evaluating geospatial capabilities. They also address several additional characteristics including date of inception, implementation language, required programming experience, and availability of demonstration models and tutorials.

2.4
Again the main limitation is that the study only examines a handful of the ABM toolkits that are available. The main audience is the domain of geospatial modeling, and again, it compares only general purpose, characteristically similar toolkits and toolkits specialized for the social sciences. In our work in this paper, we expand the ABM knowledge base to incorporate a more diverse and expansive continuum of toolkits. We also examine several characteristics in more detail. In addition, we facilitate toolkit selection by including not only comparisons of characteristics across toolkits, but we also include matrices comparing toolkits across characteristics.

2.5
The third survey is by Tobias and Hofmann (2004). In this survey, the authors examine 4 main open source toolkits: Repast, Swarm, Quicksilver, and VSEit, and they evaluate them based on various types of criteria, to include general criteria, modeling and experimentation, support for modeling, and modeling options. Altogether, they examine 19 different characteristics across these 4 platforms. Next they rank the platforms by assigning scores to represent the quality of the criteria of interest. The paper examines a broad range of characteristics, and this is what we hope to model in our future toolkit research. The main limitation of this survey is that it is from the point of view of social scientists, and it only examines "free" libraries in use by the social scientific community that use Java as the main programming language. With our work, on the other hand, we hope to appeal to the broader ABM community. We also bring to the fore additional toolkits that are geared toward the social sciences, both in general and in particular specializations.

2.6
A fourth survey paper on agent based toolkits is by Serenko et al (2002). In this work, the authors investigate 20 toolkits from an educational perspective based on their use as pedagogical tools in post-secondary courses. They classify toolkits based on 4 characteristics, namely, ability to create mobile agents, ability to develop a multi-agent system, ability to create different kinds of agents for different purposes (effectively, agent based toolkits), and ability to retrieve information. They also examine the underlying language required for programming a model or simulation. Next they interview 87 instructors who are using these toolkits and who evaluate the toolkits based on user satisfaction with platform functionality, performance, and user interaction. This is a good attempt to compare a breadth of the agent toolkits across multiple characteristics. Our work in this paper is similar in that we attempt to survey the breadth of available toolkits. However, we examine toolkits from a multi-stakeholder perspective. We also investigate more objective characteristics. In the future, we hope to implement a questionnaire to survey similar advanced characteristics.

* Limitations

3.1
Before we delve too far into this paper, we would like to underscore a few limitations. The major limitation of this survey is its scope. We chose to examine a large breadth of platforms across a small range of characteristics. This has two important implications. First, we are not able to evaluate the depth of the platforms in terms of all of their characteristics. Second, we are not able to examine a wide berth of characteristics. While this is a good base of potential characteristics of interest, certainly, there are additional characteristics that are important factors in one's decision to choose one platform over another. In our ongoing research into ABM toolkits, we will examine more in-depth and complex characteristics.

3.2
Another limitation of this survey is the disparity in degree of documentation for various toolkits. Some platforms are widely in use and have ample documentation, and other platforms have barely any documentation. Even so, we tried to look at each platform in an equal manner. However, we were limited to what we were able to find on the internet and in journals. In addition, we tried to examine each characteristic as completely and comprehensively as possible. However, our study is not complete. In places where it is not complete, it is because the developers have not specified the complete granularity of the platforms with respect to the characteristics evaluated.

3.3
Third, there is a disparity in the quality of documentation that is included with each platform. Documentation ranges from very detailed to hardly any details at all. In this survey, we do not attempt to evaluate the quality of the documentation. Rather, we try to classify the toolkits based on the types of documentation that are available to support the user.

3.4
Finally, another challenge to this study is the conflicting use of terms in different domains. Since the agent based modeling field has developed from multiple disciplines (e.g. social science, artificial intelligence, and computer science), many of the terms are not used consistently across various domains . For example, the three most inconsistent terms are "agent," "agent-based," and "multi-agent." When toolkits from different domains use the term multi-agent system, it is unclear if they mean a system capable of modeling a large number of fairly homogenous agents (agent based system) or a smaller system of heterogeneous agents equipped with artificial intelligence (true multi-agent system). We do not attempt to disambiguate the terms for each of the fields in this paper. Rather, we attempt to examine the overall domain from an agent based perspective (as opposed to a multi-agent system perspective). Because of the inconsistent use of terms, it was difficult to classify the toolkits into precise taxonomies.

* Methodology

4.1
We began this survey by gathering a comprehensive list of agent based toolkits available and that are being used in some fashion for ABM purposes. These include any platforms that are available in the public domain, including open source and closed source, general purpose and specialized, as well as free and proprietary toolkits. We tried to make this as comprehensive as possible. Next, we gathered as much information as we could from open sources. We scoured white papers, technical papers, journals, and various websites to gather as much information as possible. Where there was third hand information, we confirmed it by going directly to the source. Next, we sorted through all the information and created various taxonomies based on major classifications. Based on the taxonomies, we created corresponding tables that allow individuals to quickly compare various toolkits based on particular characteristics of interest. The following toolkits were considered:

* Results

5.1
The five characteristics we examine in this paper are: language required to program a model and to run a simulation, operating system required to run the toolkit, type of license that governs the toolkit, primary domain for which the toolkit is intended, and types of support available to the user. We chose these characteristics because they are usually the first features that one looks at when choosing a toolkit for a project (Castle 2006; Leszczyna 2004; Tobias 2004). We have two main results. First, we define taxonomies that allow for easy comparison of one characteristic across all of the platforms. This enables one to select candidate toolkits from across the ABM spectrum based on one or two characteristics of interest. Second, we define a matrix that shows in a condensed form all of the characteristics of interest across one platform. This helps one to see how a particular platform measures up as a whole for each of the characteristics across one's needs.

Programming Language

5.2
There are various programming languages that may be used to program an agent based model and to run a simulation. Programming languages are important because different languages have different implications in terms of ease of programming, portability, and compatibility. The main programming languages used across the ABM spectrum are summarized below. Note that these are the languages that are used to program a model using the toolkit rather than the underlying languages that are used to create the toolkit.

5.3
Agent models can be programmed in virtually all of the main programming languages, including C, C++, and Java. These are mainly used for the toolkits that are designed for general purposes. The rest of the languages are languages that stem from a need for specialization. Most languages in specialized toolkits are created and used specifically for that toolkit. We can also see in this table a little of the direction/roots of the languages. For example, we see a small lineage forming around the Logo language. That is, NetLogo, MacStarLogo, StarLogo, StarLogoT, and StarLogo TNG are derivatives of Logo.

Platforms Per Subcategory

5.4
By far, the main programming language most models have adopted is Java. About 42% of the platforms employ Java as their primary programming language. Toolkits that support Java programming are listed below.

5.5
The next three largest contingents are C, C++, and the Logo dialects. About 17% of the platforms use C++ to program models, about 11% use C, and about 8% use a variant of Logo. Approximately 28% of the toolkits use a platform specific language which the toolkit authors designed to facilitate programming models and simulations in that domain. Note that the sum of this collective is above 100%. This is because several platforms support multiple languages. We will begin with toolkits that support C++ programming. These are:

5.6
Next, we have toolkits that support C programming.

5.7
Third, we have toolkits that support programming in Logo Dialects.

5.8
Finally, we have toolkits that support visual programming (table 1). That is, these platforms have graphical-based programming capabilities that generally are much more simple to learn and use than traditional programming languages. In the future work, we would like to examine further the extent to which toolkits have visual programming capability in addition to programming language capability.

Table 1: Toolkits That Support Visual Programming

Visual Programming LanguageToolkit
General visual programming
MAML
PS-I
RepastS
SeSAm
SimPlusPlus
SME
Zeus
StarLogo TNG visual programming language StarLogo TNG
Visual AgentTalk (VAT)AgentSheets

5.9
Table 2 depicts the remaining domain of toolkits per programming language.

Table 2: Remaining Toolkits per Programming Language

Programming LanguageToolkit
Able Rule Language (ARL) ABLE
Any language that supports activeX components (e.g. C, C++, VB, VBA, Java)SimPlusPlus
All languages that are compiled into Java or scripting languages which are executed in the Java Virtual MachineMadkit
BeanShell (Java interpreted)Madkit
Brahms language (an agent oriented language)Brahms
Cellular Description Language (CDL) (for input to simulation) JCA-Sim
COGNET Execution Language (CEL)iGen
dML (deX Modeling Language): a domain-specific language based on C++DeX
AgentSpeak(XL), an extension of Agentspeak(L) and (Environment Description Language for Multi-Agent Simulation) ELMS, a language for modelling environments where cognitive agents are situatedMAS-SOC
Jess (rule based language)JESS
Madkit
UML-RT (UML for real time) AnyLogic
Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language (KQML)AgentBuilder
Lisp OMAR-L
SimAgent
SOAR1-5
LSD (functional language derivative)LSD
Magsy (production language) MAGSY
Multi-agent Modeling Language (MAML)MAML
MATLAB®Matlab
Microsoft.net .NET languages (C#, C++, Visual Basic, .Net, J#)OBEUS
Repast.net
Model Description Language (derived from functional language paradigms)MIMOSE
Objective CSwarm
Oris (dynamic and interpreted multi-agent language very close to C++ and Java)oRIS
Pop-11 (similar to common lisp) SimAgent
Prolog SimAgent
Python Breve
DeX
Madkit
RepastPy
Scheme (Kawa)Madkit
SeSAm-Impl and SeSAm-UML SeSAm
SmalltalkCormas
SDML
Standard MLSimAgent
Steve (a simple interpreted object oriented language) Breve
Tcl/tk scripting PS-I (only to apply affects)
SOAR

Type of License

5.10
The main domain of licenses that governs various toolkits is depicted below.

5.11
The type of license is important because it has implications for releasing the source code under commercial distribution. For example, for platforms licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), if one wants to release a modified version of the toolkit for commercial purposes, one also has to release the source code of the modified platform (GNU Website). Toolkits licensed under the Berkley Software Distribution (BSD) license, on the other hand, do not require one to release the source code of commercial extensions to the platform (freebsd.org website).

5.12
We have organized the licenses into four main branches. We can see that the majority of the toolkits are free (about 76%). These are broken down further into open source (about 53%), closed source (about 9%), and free with restrictions (14%). Of the remaining toolkits, about 17% are proprietary. The last 5% are available under contract through case by case arrangements with the authors. Finally, in addition to regular licenses, some of the toolkits come with associated third party licenses for software that is already incorporated into the toolkit or for additional features that may be incorporated into the toolkit by the user.

Platforms Per Subcategory

5.13
We begin with free toolkits. As depicted in list 6 above, we have free open source, free closed source, and conditionally free toolkits. Free open source toolkits release the source code with their toolkit and allow modifications in accordance with their governing license. Common open source licenses include Berkley Software Distribution (BSD), GNU General Public License (GPL), GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), and the Cougaar Open Source License. Free closed source toolkits, on the other hand, do not release the source code to the public. Finally, we have conditionally free licenses. These toolkits are free, but they have conditions on how they are used. For example, some licenses are free if they are used only for academic purposes. Others are free as long as they are used for non-commercial purposes. These licenses are mostly closed source. Proprietary toolkits, on the other hand, require the user to pay the toolkit authors for a license. Finally, some toolkit authors will negotiate licenses with the users according to the circumstances or intended purposes of the user. These fall under "contact authors for availability." The toolkits classified as free under open source are shown in table 3 below.

Table 3: List of Toolkits Classified as Free Under Open Source Licenses

Type of LicenseToolkit
Open Source (uncategorized1)ABLE (for academic and non-commercial use)
DeX
DOMAR
ECHO
jECHO
MAML (for evaluation purposes)
SimAgent
Zeus (read license)
Academic Free License ECJ
jES
Mason
Artistic License Agreement SimBioSys
BSD Ascape
Repast (RepastJ, RepastPy, RepastS, Repast.net)
SOAR
Cougaar Open Source License (COSL) Cougaar
GPL Breve
JASA
LSD
Madkit (for development and non-commercial applications)
Moduleco
PS-I
Jade's sim++
SDML
SimPlusPlus
SimPack
SME
Sugarscape
Swarm
LGPLADK
iGen
Jade
JAS
Madkit (for basic libraries)
FAMOJA
Omonia
SeSAm
1 These toolkits do not fall under standard licensing agreements such as BSD, GPL, and LGPL. The licensing generally is defined by the authors/developers of the toolkits

5.14
The following toolkits do not release the source code.

5.15
The list below shows the toolkits that have proprietary licenses. Note that some of these toolkits are free or discounted if they are used solely for academic purposes.

5.16
Finally, in table 4, we see the spectrum of toolkits that are free under certain restrictions. For example, some platforms are free to use and distribute as long as they are used for solely non-commercial purposes. Others are free as long as they are used for academic purposes. Another category of toolkits is governed by licenses that restrict individuals from distributing modified versions of the source code. Finally, some platforms have their own unique/hybrid licenses that are best suited for user to view for himself/herself.

Table 4: Toolkits That Are Free Under Certain Restrictions

Type of LicenseToolkit
Academic Purposes ABLE
Brahms (closed source)
JESS
oRIS
SDML
To modify but not to distribute the modified version Cormas
Use and distribution for non-commercial purposes ABLE
OpenStarLogo
See license for detailsSimAgent

5.17
The majority of the remaining toolkits use their own special purpose licenses. These toolkits are depicted in table 5 below.

Table 5: Licenses Employed by Various ABM Toolkits

Type of LicenseToolkit
Associated third party licenses (usually
non-proprietary)
MAS-SOC
SDML
SimAgent
Contact authors for availabilityMAS-SOC
Contact Tryllian to acquire a closed source licenseADK

Operating System

5.18
The third category we examine is the operating system on which the toolkits run. The operating system domain is depicted as follows. Note the variety of operating system specifications defined in the literature.

5.19
As depicted, the majority of toolkits run on Windows and Linux, although there is a large contingent that runs on Macintosh. There also is a growing trend toward implementing and running models in Java, both because of the simplicity of programming and also because of the platform independence that Java offers. We also can see this trend in table 6 (Toolkits That Run on Various Windows Operating Systems). An important note for the reader is that we tried to look at each toolkit as completely and comprehensively as possible. We gathered this information from open source documentation provided by the authors and by third parties who used the platform. However, this table is not complete; Rather, it is a baseline of platforms that have been known and documented to work on particular operating systems. Note that this does not necessarily exclude toolkits from running on additional operating systems. For example, a toolkit that runs on Windows NT may also run on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. In places where this table is not complete, it is because the developers have not specified the complete granularity of the platforms with respect to different operating systems.[2]

Platforms Per Subcategory

5.20
We will begin with the Windows platforms. Where specified in documentation, we have decomposed the platforms into Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, ME, NT, XP, and Vista. See table 6. Again, the reader should note that this is not a complete representation; rather it presents a categorization of platforms based on documented success for each platform on each operating system.

Table 6: Toolkits That Run On Various Windows Operating Systems

Operating System Toolkit
Windows (version not specified)AgentSheets
Ascape
Breve
Cormas
DOMAR
LSD
Matlab
Moduleco
StarLogo
StarLogo TNG
OBEUS
oRIS
PS-I
Repast.Net
SeSAm
SimAgent (without graphics)
Swarm
Windows 3.1SDML
Windows 95
ABLE
iGen
SDML
Zeus
Windows 98
ABLE
Cougaar
iGen
SDML
Zeus
Windows NT
ABLE
AgentBuilder
Cougaar
iGen
MIMOSE (Java based client)
SDML
Zeus
Windows 2000
AgentBuilder
ADK
Brahms
iGen
SDML
Zeus
Windows XP
AgentBuilder
ADK
AnyLogic
Brahms
Cougaar
iGen
Windows as a DOS ApplicationMOOSE
SimPlusPlus
Windows Vista, x86-32AnyLogic

5.21
The next prominent platform is Linux and its distributions such as Ubuntu and SuSE. These are depicted in table 7.

Table 7: Toolkits That Run On Linux Operating Systems

Operating SystemToolkit
Linux (version not specified)
AgentBuilder
ADK
Ascape
Brahms
Breve
Cormas
Cougaar
DOMAR
MAGSY
MAML
Matlab
MIMOSE (client/server version)
MIMOSE (Java based client)
Moduleco
MOOSE
oRIS
SimAgent
StarLogo
PS-I
SDML
SeSAm
Swarm
Zeus
X86 or x86_64 linuxDeX
SuSE Open Linux 10.2 or later, x86-32
AnyLogic
Ubuntu Linux 7.04 or later, x86-32AnyLogic

5.22
Next we have toolkits supported by the Macintosh operating system (table 8). These include toolkits such as Ascape, AgentSheets, Cormas, Cougaar, Brahms, Breve, SeSAm, StarLogoTNG, and Swarm.

Table 8: Toolkits That Run On Macintosh Operating Systems

Operating System Toolkit
Macintosh (version not specified)
Ascape
Cormas
LSD
Matlab
Moduleco
MacStarLogo
StartLogo T
StarLogo TNG
OS XAgentSheets
Brahms
Breve
Cougaar
SeSAm
Swarm
OS X 10.2.6 or higher with Java 1.4 installed StarLogo
OS X 10.4.1 or laterAnyLogic

5.23
The next major contingent of toolkits are those that will run on any machine that has a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) or Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed. These are depicted in table 9. Where specified in the documentation, we have decomposed these into several subcategories, including any platform with a Java Virtual Machine, at least Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.4.1 or later, SDK 2.0 or later, Java Runtime Environment 1.5 or later, and several more. Again, the reader should note that this is not a complete representation; rather it presents a categorization of platforms based on documented success for each platform on each operating system; Thus, some toolkits may work with additional virtual machines or subcategories.

Table 9: Toolkits That Run on Various Java Virtual Machines

Type of Java Virtual MachineToolkit
Any platform with a Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
AgentBuilder
ADK
AgentSheets
jECHO
ECJ
Jade
JAS
JASA
JCA-Sim
jES
JESS
RepastS
RespastJ
Java 2 JVM ABLE
Madkit
SDK version 1.4.1 or later
ADK
NetLogo
SimPack
Java 2 SDKSugarscape
Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.5.0 or laterAnyLogic
JAS
Java SDK 5.0 or better
ADK (but must contact for support)
SeSAm
JDK 1.1 VSEit (Java 1.1.7 or later)
Any Java Development Kit (JDK) installationFAMOJA
Omonia
Java 2 Runtime Environment(JRE) and Internet Explorer 5.x or greaterSugarscape
JRE Java version 1.4 ADK
JRE version 1.3.1 ADK
Mason
Bea's JRockit JVMADK
IBM's JVMADK

5.24
Another prominent platform is Unix. Toolkits that will run specifically on Unix platforms are:

5.25
Finally, we also have a small contingent of toolkits that run on the Sun Solaris platform.

5.26
Table 10 depicts the remaining domain of toolkits per operating system.

Table 10: Remaining Toolkits per Operating System

Operating SystemToolkit
ADUXSDML
AIXSDML
Any platform that supports C++/any C++ compilerSimBioSys
SimPack
SimPlusPlus
BSDZeus
DOSMOOSE
SimPlusPlus
Emulation of Windows NT or LinuxPS-I
HPUXSDML
IA32 Linux; PPC LinuxoRIS
IBM mainframes ADK (paid support)
Java-1.4-capable PDAsCougaar
Multi-computer systems
Meiko and BBN
Sun3, Sun 4, and HP 9000 workstations
Jade's sim++
OS/2 ABLE
SimPlusPlus (as a DOS application)
OS/370
OS/400
ADK
SGIMOOSE
oRIS
SDML
Sparc/Intel Solaris Brahms (available upon request)
SunOSMAGSY
MOOSE

Domain

5.27
In this section, we examine various domains for which the toolkits are specialized. Many of the toolkits are specifically tailored for particular domains, and many are general purpose toolkits that can be used for a variety of domains. The main domains are shown below.

5.28
The major specializations are agent based systems, artificial intelligence, distributed simulation, education, multi-agent systems, and social and natural sciences. An important note for the reader is that these are the primary domains for which the toolkit has been designed, and these are the primary domains for which the toolkit has been documented as a primary domain. Note that many toolkits are used for more domains that just their primary. However, the secondary domains have extremely unequal and incomplete representation. Therefore, we do not attempt to classify toolkits further than their primary domain. Also note that the domain categories listed here are the terminology of the toolkit documentation. As such, we do not attempt to disambiguate domain terminology. Rather, the goal is to give the user a broad feel for the types of domains for which these toolkits may be applicable, so that it will bring to the fore potential toolkits that the user otherwise may not have considered. The user should then explore further the differences between similar terminology in the domain categories of interest.

Platforms Per Subcategory

5.29
We will begin with general purpose agent based platforms (table 11). These toolkits are not geared toward special domains but rather can be used for general classes of agent based simulation. These include toolkits such as Swarm, Mason, Magsy, AgentBuilder Lite/Pro, Anylogic, Madkit, DeX, DOMAR, and Ascape. One toolkit of note is Madkit. It actually is a multi-agent platform, but it includes an agent based simulation layer. Another toolkit of note is DeX. DeX has an additional special emphasis on parallel applications.

Table 11: General Purpose Agent Based Toolkit

PurposeToollkit
General purpose agent based
AnyLogic
Ascape
DOMAR
JAS
MAGSY
Mason
SeSAm
SimPack
Swarm
Multi-agent systems with agent based simulation layerMadkit
General-purpose parallel applicationsDeX

5.30
Next, we have toolkits that specialize in distributed simulation (table 12). Here we see several toolkits that have even more particular specializations within this domain. For example, Cougaar and Tryllian Agent Development Kit specialize in large scale distributed applications, whereas oRIS specializes in virtual reality. Cougaar, in addition, has subspecializations in scalable, reliable, survivable and small scale embedded applications.

Table 12: Toolkits Specializing in Distributed Simulation

Type of Distributed Simulation Toolkit
General purpose distributed simulations
AnyLogic
DOMAR
Jade
Madkit
Large scale
ADK
Cougaar
SimAgent
Mobile (distributed) agentsADK
Small scale embeddedCougaar
Virtual realityoRIS
Highly distributed, scalable, reliable, survivable applicationsCougaar

5.31
Another main focus is education. Few toolkits are oriented toward education as their primary specialization. The forerunners as pedagogical tools are AgentSheets, StarLogoT, NetLogo, oRIS, and StarLogo (and decedents OpenStarLogo and StarLogoTNG). Since there is a strong interest in education (Serenko 2002), and because many of the platforms can be and are being used for pedagogical purposes in addition to their primary specialization, we have included in our educational taxonomy toolkits with secondary educational foci (see table 13). There are general purpose educational platforms, and there are toolkits that specialize in particular aspects of education. The general purpose toolkits include StarLogo, NetLogo, StarLogoT and MIMOSE. Within educational subspecializaties, there are toolkits that specialize in teaching programming techniques (Matlab, Sugarscape), object oriented principles (jECHO), math and computation (Matlab), how to model decentralized systems (StarLogo, StarLogoT, StarLogoTNG), computer simulation (FAMOJA, oRIS, Matlab, SeSAm), and implementing software agents (Brahms, SimAgent). Teaching computer simulation is further specialized for K-12 students (AgentSheets, StarLogo), and undergraduate (senior) and graduate level students (SimPack).

Table 13: Documented Platforms With a Primary or Secondary Pedagogical Focus

Pedagogical FocusToolkit
General purpose education3
MIMOSE
NetLogo
StarLogo
StarLogoT
StarLogo TNG
VSEit
Artificial IntelligenceBreve
For students to model the behavior of decentralized systems StarLogo
StarLogoT
StarLogo TNG
Implementing software agents Brahms
SimAgent
Learning (including explanation based learning)SOAR
Teaching computer simulation
FAMOJA
Matlab
oRIS
SeSAm
At the undergraduate (senior) and graduate levelsSimPack
K-12 social sciences, social studies, math, and scienceAgentSheets
StarLogo
Using object oriented principlesjECHO
teaching programming techniques to students new to simulationMatlab
NetLogo
StarLogoTNG
Sugarscape
scientific and engineering math and computation; data analysis, exploration, and visualizationMatlab
3 Few toolkits are oriented toward education as their primary specialization. The forerunners as pedagogical tools are AgentSheets, StarLogoT, NetLogo, oRIS, and StarLogo (and decedents OpenStarLogo and StarLogoTNG). Since there is a strong interest in education (Serenko 2002), and because many of the platforms can be and are being used for pedagogical purposes in addition to their primary specialization, we have included in our educational taxonomy toolkits with secondary educational foci.

5.32
The next major specialization is multi-agent systems (table 14). While many of these toolkits do have support and are being used for agent based modeling, their main purpose is for building multi-agent systems. These toolkits include Brahms, Cormas, Cougaar, Jade, Madkit, Magsy, Moduleco, oRIS, and SDML.

Table 14: Toolkits With Primary Specialization in Multi-Agent Systems

Type of Multi-agent System Toolkit
Multi-agent systems (general purpose)
AgentBuilder
oRIS
MAGSY
Large scale distributedADK
Cougaar
Complex environmentsSimAgent
DistributedJade
Decision-making in complex environments (with limited rationality)SDML
Organizational processesBrahms

5.33
The next major contingent of toolkits are those that specialize in artificial intelligence. These include toolkits that are geared for artificial intelligence in general, for machine learning, for creating human-like intelligent agents, and for artificial intelligence for the social sciences in particular (See table 15).

Table 15: Toolkits With a Primary Specialization in Artificial Intelligence

Type of Artificial Intelligence FocusToolkit
Artificial Intelligence (general purpose)
Breve
iGen
SOAR
Machine learning and reasoning
ABLE
Zeus
Social sciencesOmonia
3D simulations
multi-agent systems
Breve
Human-like intelligent agentsSimAgent

5.34
In table 16, we see the toolkits that are geared specifically for the social sciences. Again, there are general purpose toolkits as well as particular subspecializations within.

Table 16: Toolkits With A Primary Specialization Toward the Social Sciences

Type of Social Science SpecializationToolkit
General purpose Social Sciences
AgentSheets
LSD
FAMOJA
MAML
MAS-SOC
MIMOSE
NetLogo
Repast
SimBioSys
StarLogo
StarLogoT
StarLogo TNG
Sugarscape
VSEit
Help beginning users get started authoring modelsNetLogo
Social systemsModuleco

5.35
Finally, we have toolkits that are geared toward the natural sciences. These are:

5.36
The rest of the domains are highly specialized and only have one or two supporting toolkits. These can be found in the table 17.

Table 17: Highly Specialized Documented Primary Domains Across the ABM Spectrum

Documented Primary DomainToolkit
Applied Simulations/Electronic CADJade's Sim++
BiologySimBioSys
Cellular automataJCA-Sim
Computational economics/Auction mechanismsJASA
Ecological modelingECHO
jEcho
SME
EnterprisesjES
Evolutionary computingECJ
Human performance modeling
iGen
SOAR
Training systemsiGen
Performance support systemsiGen
Natural Resources ManagementCormas
Political phenomenaPS-I
Rule engine and scripting environment JESS
Zeus
Simulating organizational processesBrahms
Testing Base24 applications SimPlusPlus
Urban simulation OBEUS

User Support

5.37
Another important category that individuals and organizations look at when determining a toolkit to use is the degree of support that is available to the user. In this section we examine the types of user support that are available. These include project wikis, documentation (such as user manuals), consulting, bug lists, formal training, example models, tutorials, third party extensions, selected references, application programming interfaces (APIs), and frequently asked questions (FAQ) sections. The types of support in the user support domain are:

Platforms Per Subcategory

5.38
Next, we have toolkits that have some form of user documentation. By user documentation, we are looking for manuals that explain how to use the toolkit. Almost every platform comes with a user manual. Note that in this survey, we do not attempt to compare the comprehensiveness of the user manuals; we merely are mentioning that the toolkit at least comes with some degree of documentation. We did, however, note several toolkits in particular that have limited documentation (as indicated below).

5.39
Some toolkits have tutorials set up to assist the user in getting started authoring models. These toolkits are:

5.40
Again, in this survey, we do not attempt to evaluate the quality of the tutorials, only that these toolkits have tutorials established to support the user.

5.41
Third, we identify toolkits which include mailing lists, listservs, or online forums to support the user:

5.42
Many toolkits also have a section for frequently asked questions. These toolkits include:

5.43
Some toolkits include their APIs. These are depicted below.

5.44
Some toolkits also have defect (also known as "bug") lists.

5.45
In addition to tutorials, many toolkits also have example models available.

5.46
These differ from tutorials because these are more comprehensive templates that individuals can use to help them use author models. They may not necessarily come with directions on how to use the toolkit in general. Tutorials, on the other hand, are designed to walk the user step by step through how to use the toolkit. They may or may not include model templates.

5.47
Some toolkits also include selected references/publications that users can read for more information on the toolkit. These are depicted below.

5.48
Several of the toolkits have consulting services available in conjunction with their toolkit. Note that these are all proprietary toolkits, so the user probably will have to pay extra for these services.

5.49
Some toolkits also have specialized training classes available for users. Again, these are mostly proprietary toolkits.

5.50
Some toolkits have links on their website to third party extensions that individuals have developed to fulfill a specialized need. For example, Mason has third party extensions that aid in social network statistics, rigid body physics, and integration with the Jung social network system (Mason website).

5.51
Finally, we have toolkits that have project wikis as part of user support (shown below).

Characteristics per platform

5.52
In this section, we compiled all of the preceding information into an easy-to-use matrix. Whereas the previous section aids the user in viewing toolkits across one or two characteristics, this section is helpful for the user who wants to examine all of the characteristics across one platform. For better viewing purposes, we split the matrix into two submatrices (See Appendices 2 and 3).

* Conclusion: On-going and Future Work

6.1
We have developed a web-based tool that incorporates all of our findings so far. This is a searchable repository of ABM platforms into which users input a range of characteristics, and the tool returns a list of candidate platforms that contain those characteristics. This tool is available at http://agent.cse.nd.edu/abmsearchengine.php.

6.2
We also have created a corresponding page in Wikipedia based on this research. In addition to summarizing our current results, we include several categories of interest concerning 3D and GIS capabilities. The article is entitled "ABM Software Comparison," and it is linked from the main "Agent Based Model" wiki. We invite the ABM community to participate in expanding this research further.

6.3
In the future, we would like to continue our research into various ABM toolkits. In particular, we would like to examine more complex characteristics across the ABM spectrum. In our next work, we will design a survey to explore characteristics such as ease of use, degree of programming required, maximum number of agents supported, statistical support, and feature completeness.

6.4
In this paper, we have begun a comprehensive survey of ABM platforms. We gathered as many platforms as possible that were being used for ABM purposes, and we began to classify them. In particular, we examined 5 characteristics in depth: programming language required, type of license governing the toolkit, type of operating system required, primary domain for which the toolkit has been designed, and degree of support available to the user. Our goal was to give project designers the capability to easily compare toolkits based on these characteristics and to help him/her better choose a toolkit that suits his/her needs. As such, we have included a range of general as well as specialized toolkits. Some of the toolkits have never been included in surveys before, and we hope that including these will help individuals choose toolkits that are more suited for their projects rather than having to "redesign the wheel." In order to facilitate comparison, we created several taxonomies which have been presented here in tabular form. With these representations, the user can quickly examine one characteristic across a range of toolkits as well as a range of characteristics across one toolkit.

* Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Curtis Blais, Ranjeev Mittu, and Amy Henninger for their assistance in this research.


* Notes

1There is some ambiguity concerning the terms "platform" and "toolkit." From the Computer Science domain, the term "toolkit" denotes the application level software package, and the tern "platform" denotes the underlying hardware on which the software runs. In the Social Science domain, on the other hand, the term "platform" and "toolkit" have been used interchangeably (Gilbert 2002; Tobias 2004). In this paper, we also use the terms "platform" and "toolkit" interchangeably.

2Please note this limitation in this section and throughout the remainder of the paper.

* Appendix 1: Glossary of Acronyms

ABLE
Agent Building and Learning Environment
ADK
Tryllian Agent Development Kit
API
Application Programming Interface
BSD
Berkley Software Distribution
Cormas
Common-pool Resources and Multi-Agent Systems
DOMAR
Distributed operator model architecture
FAMOJA
Framework for Agent-based Modelling with Java
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
GPL
GNU General Public License
JASA
Java Auction Simulator API
JDK
Java Development Kit
jES
Java Enterprise Simulator
JRE
Java Runtime Environment
JVM
Java Virtual Machine
LGPL
GNU Lesser General Public License
LSD
Laboratory for Simulation Development
MAGSY
Rules Based Multi-Agent System
Matlab
Matrix Laboratory
MIMOSE
Micro-und Multilevel Modelling Software
Madkit
Multi Agent Development Kit
MAML
Multi-agent modeling language
MAS-SOC
Multi-Agent Simulations for the SOCial Sciences
MOOSE
Multimodeling Object-Oriented Simulation Environment
OBEUS
Object Based Environment for Urban Simulation
PS-I
Political Science- Identity
Repast
REcursive Porous Agent Simulation Toolkit
SDK
Software Development Kit
SeSAM
Shell for Simulated Agent Systems
SME
Spatial Modeling Environment
SDML
Strictly Declarative Modeling Language
VSEit
Versatile Simulation Environment for the Internet

* Appendix 2: Characteristics Per Platform - Domain, License, and Programming Language Required


Platform Domain1 LicenseProgramming Language Required
Agent Building and Learning Environment (ABLE) Building intelligent agents using machine learning and reasoning Open source (free for academic and non-commercial use) Able Rule Language (ARL)
AgentBuilder Lite/Pro General purpose multi-agent systemsProprietary;
Discounted academic licenses available
Knowledge Query and
Manipulation Language (KQML); Java; C; C++2
Tryllian Agent
Development Kit (ADK)
Large scale distributed
applications; Mobile (distributed) agents
Dual licensed:
either accept the LGPL or contact Tryllian to acquire a closed source license
Java
AgentSheets Teaching simulation to grades K-12 in social studies, mathematics, sciences, and social sciences Proprietary Visual AgenTalk (VAT); a rule-based visual programming language; can be exported to Java; programming by example and programming by demonstration
AnyLogic Agent based general purpose; distributed simulationsProprietary Java; UML-RT (UML for real time)
Ascape General-purpose agent-based models. BSD Java
BrahmsMulti-agent environment for simulating organizational processes
Free, but only available for research or non-commercial purposesBrahms language (an agent oriented language)
Breve Building 3D simulations of multi-agent systems and artificial life. GPL Simple Interpreted object oriented language called Steve; agent behaviors can be written in python
Common-pool Resources and
Multi-Agent
Systems (Cormas)
Natural resources management Free to modify but not to distribute
the modified
version
Smalltalk (requires VisualWorks to run)
Cougaar Multi-agent systems; highly distributed, scalable, reliable, survivable applications;
Domain independent; large scale distributed, complex, data intensive (can be configured for small-scaled embedded
Applications
Cougaar Open Source License (COSL) is a modified version of the OSI approved BSD LicenseJava
DeX Developing, analyzing, and visualizing dynamic agent-based and multi-body simulations; parallel applicationsFree (open source) - read license C++; dML (deX Modeling Language): a domain-specific language based on C++; python
Distributed
operator model
architecture
(DOMAR)
General purpose
simulation environment
Free (open source) - read license Java (OMAR-J); lisp (OMAR-L)
ECHO Ecological modeling Free, open source C
jEcho Ecological modeling
using object oriented
principles
Free, open source Java
ECJ Evolutionary
computation; genetic
programming
Academic Free
License - open source
Java
Framework for Agent-based Modelling with Java (FAMOJA) Resource flow management, theoretical systems science, applied systems, environmental systems analysis LGPL Java
iGen Artificial intelligence
engine; human
performance modeling; embeddable cognitive agents
Proprietary (various prices for
Developer's
License; Modeler's License; Runtime License; and Academic Licenses)
COGNET Execution
Language (CEL);
C++; C; Java
JADE Distributed applications composed of autonomous entities LGPL version 2 Java
JAS General purpose agent basedLGPL; associated third party licenses (usually non¬proprietary) Java
Java Auction Simulator API (JASA) Computational economics; Agent based computational economics GPLJava
JCA-Sim Cellular automata; General purpose simulator Free (closed source)Java; Cellular Description Language (CDL) (for input to simulation)
Java Enterprise
Simulator (jES)
A single enterprise or a
system of enterprises
Academic free
license
Java
JESS Rule engine and
scripting environment
Proprietary; free
for academic use
Java/Jess/JessML (declarative xml rule language)
Laboratory for
Simulation
Development
(LSD)
A language for
simulation models;
social sciences
GPL C++; LSD
Multi Agent Development Kit (Madkit) A generic, highly customizable and scalable platform; general purpose multi-agent platform with agent based simulation layer LGPL for basic libraries; GPL for development and non- commercial applications Java; MadKit may be developed in all languages that are compiled into Java; for the moment, MadKit comes with 4 scripting languages which are executed in the Java Virtual Machine: Scheme (Kawa), Jess (rule based language), BeanShell (Java interpreted) and Python (jython). Using the JNI (Java Native Interface) technique, it should be possible to develop agents written in C or C++. It is also possible to embed Java agents in C/C++
applications using the same technique, using JNI as a glue between the two worlds.
Rules Based Multi-
Agent System
(MAGSY)
General purpose multi-agent systemsFree (closed source)Magsy (production language)
Multi-agent modeling language (MAML) Social science; domain specific programming language for developing agent based modelsThe compiler is freely downloadable for evaluation
purposes (open source) Later the system will be put under GNU license
MAML language; C; visual programming interface
Mason General purpose;
social complexity, physical modeling,
abstract modeling,
AI/machine learning
Academic Free
License (open source)
Java
Multi-Agent Simulations for the SOCial Sciences
(MAS-SOC)
Social simulation Contact authors for availability AgentSpeak(XL), an
extension of Agentspeak(L)
and (Environment
Description Language for
Multi-Agent Simulation)
ELMS, a language for
modelling environments
where cognitive agents are situated. Future work to implement in Java
Matrix Laboratory
(Matlab)
Teaching simulation
programming techniques to students new to simulation; scientific and engineering math and computation; data analysis, exploration, and visualization
Proprietary MATLAB® is a high-level language that includes matrix-based data structures, its own internal data types, an extensive catalog of functions, an environment in which to develop your own functions and scripts, the ability to import and export to many types of data files, object-oriented programming capabilities, and interfaces to external technologies such as COM, Java, programs written in C and Fortran, and serial port devices.
Micro- und Multilevel Modelling Software (MIMOSE) Social sciences; education Free (closed source)A model description language (derived from functional language paradigms)
Moduleco Multi-agent platformGPLJava
StarLogo Social and natural sciences; Educators; for students to model the behavior of decentralized systems; user friendly for K-12 studentsFree (closed source) - Clearthought Software License, Version 1.0 StarLogo (an extension of Logo)
MacStarLogo Social and natural sciences; Educators; for students to model the behavior of decentralized systems; user friendly for K-12 studentsFree (closed source)MacStarLogo
OpenStarLogo Social and natural sciences; Educators; for students to model the behavior of decentralized systems; user friendly for K-12 studentsFree for use and distribution for non-commercial
purposes (open source)
StarLogo (an extension of Logo)
StarLogoT Social sciences;
Education; decentralized networks
Free (closed source) StarLogoT
StarLogo TNG (The Next Generation) Social and natural sciences; teaching basic computer programming skills StarLogo TNG License v1.0 - (closed source) - the code may be freed up eventually. The
original StarLogo
is apparently going
to be released
under an open
source license soon
StarLogo TNG language - a graphical programming language and a 3d world
NetLogo Social and natural sciences; Help beginning users get started authoring models Free, not open source; A quick summary of the license is that use is unrestricted, including commercial use, but there are some restrictions on redistribution and/or modification (unless you contact Uri Wilensky to arrange different terms)NetLogo
Object Based Environment for Urban Simulation (OBEUS) Urban simulation Free (closed source) Microsoft.net .NET languages - C#, C++, or Visual Basic.
oRIS Teaching; programming by concurrent objects, multi-agent systems, distributed virtual reality, adaptive controlProprietary - (free for academic institutions) Oris language; Very close to C++ and Java (dynamic and interpreted multi-agent language)
Political Science-
Identity (PS-I)
Political phenomenaGPLNo programming required;
TCL/TK scripting to apply effects
Quicksilver (now called omonia) AI/social sciences LGPL Java
Recursive Porous Agent Simulation Toolkit (Repast) Social sciencesBSD Java (RepastS, RepastJ); Python (RepastPy); Visual Basic, .Net, C++, J#, C# (Repast.net)
Strictly Declarative Modeling Language (SDML) Multi-agent systems (with limited rationality) GPL; third party license (for VisualWorks) Smalltalk release 5i.2 Non-Commercial
Jade's sim++ Parallel simulation; Applied simulations; network planning; electronic CAD; real time communication simulation GPL version 2 C++
SimPlusPlus Testing Base24 applications GPL Fully programmable with any language that can support activeX components (e.g. C, C++, VB, VBA, Java, and others), but no programming required
SimAgent
(aka sim_agent)
Research and teaching
related to the development of interacting agents in environments of various degrees and kinds of complexity; exploratory research on human-like intelligent agents; systems involving large numbers of highly distributed fairly homogeneous relatively 'small' agents; primarily designed to support design and implementation of very complex agents, each composed of very different interacting components (like a human mind) where the whole thing is embedded in an environment that could be a mixture of physical objects and other agents of many sorts
Free (open source); MIT/XFREE86
license (for poplog libraries); may later be replaced by GPL
Pop-11, like Common Lisp, is a powerful extendable multi-purpose programming language supporting multiple paradigms. Within the Poplog environment Pop-11 also supports programs written in Prolog, Common Lisp or Standard ML
SimBioSys Agent-based evolutionary simulations in both biology and the social sciences Artistic License Agreement C++
Multimodeling
Object-Oriented
Simulation
Environment
(Moose)
General purpose, agent abased (modeled from SimPack)Unable to verify that available for public useC++
SimPack General purpose, agent based; teaching computer simulation at the under¬graduate (senior) and graduate levelsGPL C++; (C libraries no longer maintained); Java
Spatial Modeling
Environment
(SME)
Ecological economic;
Ecoystems modeling
GPL No knowledge of computer programming required
Shell for Simulated
Agent Systems
(SeSAm)
General purpose (agent based); teaching

LGPL SeSAm-Impl and SeSAm-UML; Visual programming
SOAR General purpose AI;
human performance modeling; learning (including explanation-based learning)
BSD Soar 1 to 5 in Lisp; Soar 6 in C; Java, C++, TCL
Sugarscape Social sciences; educationGPL Java
Swarm General purpose agent basedGPL Java; Objective C
VSEit Social sciences; education


Free (closed source) Java
ZEUS Rules engine and scripting environment; Distributed multi-agent simulations Open source (read license)Visual editors and code generators
1 An important note for the reader is that these are the primary domains for which the toolkit has been designed. Note that many toolkits are used for more domains that just their primary domain. However, the secondary domains have extremely unequal and incomplete representation. Therefore, we do not attempt to classify toolkits further than their primary domain.

2 Developer-defined interagent communications commands; built-in Java classes (supplied by the AgentBuilder toolkit) and domain-specific Java classes provided by the developer. All of these classes used by AgentBuilder agents are referred to as Project Accessory Classes (PACs); PACs can be written entirely in Java, or can be written in C/C++ and invoked via the Java Native Interface (JNI)


* Appendix 3: Characteristics Per Platform - Platform Supports, User Support, and Website


Platform Platform Supports3User Support
Website
Agent Building and Learning Environment (ABLE) OS/2; Windows 95; Windows 98; Windows NT; and UNIX (any Java 2 JVM) FAQ; tutorial; examples;
discussion forum; emailing developers; selected publications; API; documentation
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/able
AgentBuilder
Lite/Pro
Windows NT; Windows 2000; Windows XP; Linux; Sun Solaris; any platform with a Java Virtual MachineConsulting; training; example; FAQ; users manuals; defect reporting; mailing list http://www.agentbuilder.com/Documentation/Lite/
Tryllian Agent
Development Kit (ADK)
Windows; Unix; Big Iron IBM mainframes4; anywhere that the Java Standard Edition version 1.4 runs; Sun Java Runtime Environment version 1.3.1 or 1.4; JDK 5.05; any platform on which Sun has made available a JVM; Windows 2000; Windows XP; Solaris; GNU/Linux; Additionally, the ADK has been tested on OS/400 and OS/370. Apple's OS X is not supported, but part of the development of the ADK is done on OS X.FAQ; defect reporting; documentation; mailing list; quickstart guide; examples; email maintainer for more support; API http://www.tryllian.com
AgentSheets Windows; Macintosh OS X (PowerPCs) Macintosh OS X (Intel Macs); should run on any Java Virtual Machine Manuals; tutorial movies; FAQ; recommended readings on programming and simulation; personal contact with developers; elementary school training; teacher guides http://www.agentsheets.com/index.html
AnyLogic AnyLogic 6 models are standalone Java applications (or applets) and run on any Java-enabled platform or in any Java-enabled browser with the following version of JRE (Java Runtime Environment):JRE 1.5.0 or later; Java plug-in (needed to run models in a
Browser) is optionally installed with the JRE; Windows Vista, x86-32; Windows XP, x86-32; Apple Macintosh OS X 10.4.1 or later, Universal; SuSE Open Linux 10.2 or later, x86-32; Ubuntu Linux 7.04 or later, x86-32
Demos; training; consulting; knowledge base; online forum; ask a question; documentation; selected references http://www.xjtek.com/anylogic/
Ascape Windows; Macintosh; Unix; Linux; web Online forum (emailing list); selected references; documentation; API http://ascape.sourceforge.net/index.html#Introduction
BrahmsWindows 2000;
Windows XP; Linux;
Sparc/Intel Solaris; and Macintosh OS X
Documentation; API; tutorials; discussion forums; email contacts http://www.agentisolutions.com/index.htm
Breve Macintosh OS X; Linux; and Windows Email developer; tutorials; FAQ; forums; defects section; API; documentation http://www.spiderland.org/node/2602
Common-pool Resources and
Multi-Agent
Systems (Cormas)
Linux; Macintosh; Unix; Windows Training, selected references; examples; online forum; email developers; documentation http://cormas.cirad.fr/indexeng.htm
Cougaar Windows 98; Windows NT; Windows XP; Linux; Macintosh OS X; and Java-1.4-capable PDAs FAQ; tutorials; slide shows; documentation; selected references; email support; public forums; mailing lists http://www.cougaar.org/
DeX X86 or x86_64 Linux Users guide; demo; API; peer to peer account; author support http://dextk.org/dex/index.html
Distributed
operator model
architecture
(DOMAR)
Windows; Unix; Linux API; technical support from authors http://omar.bbn.com/
ECHO Unix workstations; Developed on Sun Sparc architecture using Sunos 4.1.3A few selected publications; one outdated publication on how to compile and use Echo http://www.santafe.edu/~pth/echo/
jEcho Any Java platform Limited documentation; Author has limited time to work with clients http://www.brianmcindoe.com/
ECJ Any Java platform Tutorials; examples; API; documentation; online mailing list http://cs.gmu.edu/~eclab/projects/ecj/
Framework for Agent-based Modelling with Java (FAMOJA) JDK installation Tutorial; API; wiki; documentation; http://www.usf.uos.de/projects/famoja/
iGen Windows 95, 98,
2000, NT, XP
Consulting; training; selected publications; (user's forum and documentation under construction, but not online yet) http://www.cognitiveagent.com/
JADE Any Java platform FAQ; mailing list; defect list; tutorials; API; documentation http://jade.tilab.com
JAS Any Java platform version 1.5 or higherAPI; documentation; tutorials; email authors http://jaslibrary.sourceforge.net/
Java Auction Simulator API (JASA) Any Java platform Public forum, not very well used; API; small set of selected readings; limited documentation
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jasa/
JCA-Sim Any Java platform Examples; documentation; API; one contact listed http://www.jweimar.de/jcasim/
Java Enterprise
Simulator (jES)
Any Java platform limited documentation http://web.econ.unito.it/terna/jes/
JESS Java Virtual Machine FAQ; documentation; mailing list; examples; third party plug ins and libraries; wiki http://herzberg.ca.sandia.gov/jess/
Laboratory for
Simulation
Development
(LSD)
Windows; Unix; Macintosh Documentation; a couple of examples; 2 contacts on webpage (but have to dig for them) http://www.business.aau.dk/lsd/lsd.html
Multi Agent Development Kit (Madkit) JVM (Java 2) FAQ; documentation; online forum; examples; defect list http://www.madkit.org/
Rules Based Multi-
Agent System
(MAGSY)
UNIX, LINUX,
SunOS and Solaris
systems.
Limited documentation; some example (inside installation package); no users support groups; no contact even for authors http://www-ags.dfki.uni-sb.de/~kuf/magsy.html
Multi-agent modeling language (MAML) PC; LinuxTutorial; examples; reference papers; contact developers http://www.maml.hu/
Mason Any Java platform (1.3 or higher)Mailing list; documentation;
Tutorials; third party extensions; reference papers; API
http://cs.gmu.edu/~eclab/projects/mason/
Multi-Agent Simulations for the SOCial Sciences
(MAS-SOC)
Information not availableInformation not available http://inf.ufrgs.br/massoc (project page not available)
Matrix Laboratory
(Matlab)
Windows; Linux;
Solaris; Macintosh
Training; consulting; documentation; third party products and services; multiple support groups; defect reports http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/matlab_product_page.html
Micro- und Multilevel Modelling Software (MIMOSE) Client/server version on Sun/Solaris/ and Linux; Java based client on Windows NT, Solaris, and Linux User's manual http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~moeh/projekte/mimose.html
Moduleco Windows; Linux; MacintoshAPI; minimal documentation http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ai/public/moduleco/
StarLogo Macintosh OS X 10.2.6 or higher with Java 1.4 installed; Windows; Unix; Linux (StarLogo does not seem to be compatible with Java 5/1.5 on Solaris)Mailing list; tutorials; FAQ; bug list; documentation; developer contacts http://education.mit.edu/starlogo/
MacStarLogo Macintosh Download available from StarLogo webpage, but not actively developed anymoreLink removed Off the starlogo webpage
OpenStarLogo Macintosh OS X 10.2.6 or higher with Java 1.4 installed; Windows; Unix; Linux (StarLogo does not seem to be compatible with Java 5/1.5 on Solaris)FAQ; defects; online support lists; examples and documentation http://education.mit.edu/openstarlogo/
StarLogoT Macintosh Tutorials; API; documentation; defect list; contact authors http://ccl.northwestern.edu/cm/starlogoT/
StarLogo TNG (The Next Generation) Macintosh and Windows Tutorials; FAQ; documentation; mailing lists; API http://education.mit.edu/starlogo-tng/index.htm
NetLogo Any Java Virtual Machine, version 1.4.1 or later, is installed. Version 1.5.0_12 or later is preferred. Documentation; FAQ; selected references; tutorials; third party extensions; defect list; mailing lists http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/
Object Based Environment for Urban Simulation (OBEUS) Windows User's manual http://www.enib.fr/~harrouet/oris.html
oRIS IA32 Linux; PPC Linux; SGI Irix; and Windows Documentation; examples in French; API http://www.enib.fr/~harrouet/
Political Science-
Identity (PS-I)
Cross platform with binaries available for win32; Windows; Linux; PS-I is not currently available for Macintosh users except via emulation of a Windows, NT, or Linux environment. Documentation; selected publications http://ps-i.sourceforge.net/
Quicksilver (now called omonia) JDK installation Examples; little documentation http://www.xlog.ch/omonia
Recursive Porous Agent Simulation Toolkit (Repast) Java version 1.4, although a 1.3 version for Machintosh OS X is available. To run the demonstration simulations, you'll need a Java Runtime Environment (RepastS, RepastJ); platform independent (RepastPy); Windows (Repast.net) Documentation; mailing list; defect list; reference papers; external tools; tutorials; FAQ; examples http://repast.sourceforge.net (RepastS) http://repast.sourceforge.net/repast_3/download.html (RepastPy, RepastJ, Repast.net)
Strictly Declarative Modeling Language (SDML) Windows 3.1; Windows 95; Widows 98; Windows 2000; Windows NT; Linux; Intel; PowerMac; Unix; ADUX/AIX/HPUX/ SGI/Solaris Mailing list; tutorial; selected references; limited documentation included with software package http://cfpm.org/sdml/
Jade's sim++ Available for Meiko and BBN multi¬computer systems and can be used on a network with Sun3, Sun 4, and HP 9000 workstationsInformation not available no longer available
SimPlusPlus Sim++ can be used with C code or C++ code, but you MUST have a C++ compiler. DOS; Windows (as a DOS application) or OS2 (as a DOS app). The SimPack software is currently being overhauled to use C++ exclusively; however, it will still be possible to use C programs, as before, to access the C++ routines. Author contact http://www.simplusplus.com/
SimAgent
(aka sim_agent)
At least prolog version 15; Windows; Macintosh OS X; Linux; Unix
Tutorials; documentation;
Selected publications; examples; author contact



http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/poplog/packages/simagent.html
SimBioSys Any platform that supports C++ None http://www.lucifer.com/~david/SimBioSys/
Multimodeling
Object-Oriented
Simulation
Environment
(Moose)
IBM PC running DOS/Windows or Version of Unix (such as Linux or BSD); Unix Workstations (SUN, SGI)
Selected references; user's manual in toolkit package http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~fishwick/moose.html
SimPack Any platform that supports C++; Technically, the processing environment is supposedly checked for Java 1.4 but Java 1.5 seems to work fine. Simpackj has been tested with 1.5 and exhibits no issues. The SDK is preferred over the JRE, as this could be useful for certain types of Java code that you may be writing. The SDK includes a JRESelected publications; mailing list; user's manual http://www.cis.ufl.edu/~fishwick/simpack/simpack.html
Spatial Modeling
Environment
(SME)
UnixDocumentation; mailing list (but wasn't functional when went to the website) http://www.uvm.edu/giee/SME3/
Shell for Simulated
Agent Systems
(SeSAm)
Java 5.0 or better;
Windows; Linux; Macintosh
OS X
Tutorials; mailing list; FAQ; wiki; author contact http://www.simsesam.de/
SOAR Windows 98; Windows ME; Windows 2000; Windows XP; Linux; OS XDocumentation; FAQ; selected publications; defect list; third party extensions; mailing list; contact authors; tutorial; examples; wiki http://sitemaker.umich.edu/soar/home
Sugarscape Java 2 SDK or (Internet Explorer 5.x or
greater AND the Java 2 Runtime Environment (JRE))
API http://sugarscape.sourceforge.net/
Swarm Windows; Linux; Macintosh OS XWiki; tutorials; examples; documentation; FAQ; selected publications; mailing lists http://www.swarm.org/
VSEit To run simulations: a Java enabled internet browser like Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer. VSEit is known to run under Netscape Navigator 4.06 or higher, on Windows 95/98 and Windows NT; to develop simulations: any Java platform supporting Java 1.1.7.
Examples; users guide; defect list http://www.vseit.de
ZEUS Windows 95; Windows 98; Windows NT; Windows 2000; Windows XP; Linux; BSD; UNIX-like OSes; SolarisDocumentation; author contact http://labs.bt.com/projects/agents/zeus/
3 An important note for the reader is that we tried to look at each toolkits as completely and comprehensively as possible. However, our study is not complete. In places where it is not complete, it is because the authors have not specified the complete granularity of the platforms with respect to different operating systems.

4 Tryllian can offer paid support for running the ADK on IBM mainframes or AS/400 machines. Apple's OS X is not supported, but part of the development of the ADK is done on OS X. 5 If you need to run the ADK on JDK 5.0, please contact Tryllian. The ADK will not work out of the box with version 5.0 of the JDK. The ADK has also been tested with Bea's JRockit JVM and with IBM's JVM; both appear to support running the ADK.



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