Re: Swarm futures (was Re: ABM/Toolkit futures [was: Swarm futures (was Re: GNUstep and MacOS X Port Effort)])

[gepr]

(Moving this to Swarm-Modelling, which is where it really belongs.
Sorry for abusing the support list like that.)

Gulyas Laszlo writes:
 > On Fri, 4 Oct 2002 address@hidden wrote:
 > > BTW, I really do mean "Swarm futures" when I talk about this stuff.
 > 
 > OK, I think this is really a terminology issue here...
 > Notice that I used ABM (!) in my subject and that's what I meant.
 > To me Swarm _is_ the implementation. True, it set the example
 > and terminology for most agent-based modeling/simulation tools,
 > but it's still just a particular realization of a method.
 > That is, as I see it...

Hmmm.  To me Swarm is the generic name for the type of modeling, which
is why "Swarm Intelligence" is appropriately named.  There are
different kinds of "Agent-Based Modeling", some of which are very
Swarm-like and some of which are completely different.

When designing BDI agents, for example, many people use ABM toolkits.
None of those ABM toolkits are at all Swarm-like.  Swarm Modeling is a
subset of ABM.  And it's a pretty specific subset.

Marcus (I think) introduced the term "fine-grained agents" to indicate
the difference between Swarm Modeling and other ABM.  True, the SDG's
implementation of Swarm, MAS, AScape, and RePast all have the
capability of doing non-Swarm ABMs.  But, it's useful, especially when
having a conversation about methods, to distinguish between the two
types of modeling.  (In fact, what gives the Swarm and its various
implementations a bit of power, in my opinion, is it's open-ness to
*integration* of all types of modeling, including other types of
ABM.... a kind of multi-modal, multi-scale, and multi-frequency
modeling.)

When talking about what the SDG should do next, it is important to
talk explicitly about Swarm futures and try to discover where Swarm
(as a modeling style) fits in with things like AgentSheets, Aglets,
and AUML, to name a few, as well as the Swarm-like tools.

Plus being sloppy in our language doesn't help refine the agenda.  So,
I prefer the more precise term "Swarm" over the more ambiguous term
"ABM".

I also don't think it's relevant to restrict the conversation to
"toolkits", for similar reasons.

OK... enough nit-picking about terminology. [grin] But, in
self-defense, terminology can often make or break an effort.  So, I'd
rather be clear and too wordy than vague and terse.

-- 
glen e. p. ropella              =><=                           Hail Eris!
H: 831.335.4950                              http://www.ropella.net/~gepr
M: 831.247.7901                               http://www.tempusdictum.com



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