BREEDING FASTER TURTLES: PROGRESS TOWARDS A NETLOGO COMPILER

Despite the stereotype concerning their biological counterparts, NetLogo's turtles are fast. NetLogo (Wilensky 1999a) contains a sophisticated interpreter that has been highly optimized. Nevertheless, NetLogo turtles aren't as fast as they could be. Interpretation necessarily incurs a performance penalty. Thus, we are in the process of replacing NetLogo's interpreter with a compiler. This transition is happening in phases. In this paper, we discuss the architecture of NetLogo's interpreter and explain the first phase of the transition to compilation, which uses inlining to generate efficient bytecode from abstract syntax trees. This technique measurably reduces the interpreter overhead, while permitting a gradual transition to a compiled architecture. We approach the task of compiler design from the perspective of a powerful agent based modeling language with “low threshold” design goals. Preliminary benchmark results are presented, in addition to a forecast of further steps towards a full NetLogo compiler.

[1]  T. P. Wright,et al.  Factors affecting the cost of airplanes , 1936 .

[2]  L. J. Savage,et al.  The Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk , 1948, Journal of Political Economy.

[3]  L. Pospisil.  The Kapauku Papuans of West New Guinea , 1958 .

[4]  W. Heisenberg.  Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science , 1958 .

[5]  D. Woolley,et al.  The white paper , 1943, Public Health.

[6]  E. von Hippel,et al.  Sources of Innovation , 2016 .

[7]  John H. Holland,et al.  Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems: An Introductory Analysis with Applications to Biology, Control, and Artificial Intelligence , 1992 .

[8]  Richard E. Blanton,et al.  Monte Alban: Settlement Patterns at the Ancient Zapotec Capital , 1978 .

[9]  Louis E. Yelle.  THE LEARNING CURVE: HISTORICAL REVIEW AND COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY , 1979 .

[10]  F I. Stahl.  Preliminary findings concerning the validity of "BFIRES :: a comparison of simulated with actual fire events , 1979 .

[11]  Richard G. Townsend.  Is the Local Community an Ecology of Games? , 1980 .

[12]  Seymour Papert,et al.  Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas , 1981 .

[13]  C. Pollard,et al.  Center for the Study of Language and Information , 2022 .

[14]  Robert G. Reynolds.  A computational model of hierarchical decision systems , 1984 .

[15]  R. Walgate.  Tale of two cities , 1984, Nature.

[16]  J. Harvey,et al.  Current issues in attribution theory and research. , 1984, Annual review of psychology.

[17]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  Learning from Experience in Organizations , 1985 .

[18]  Kenneth Laine Ketner.  Peirce’s “Most Lucid and Interesting Paper”: An Introduction to Cenopythagoreanism , 1986 .

[19]  Andrew Ortony,et al.  The Cognitive Structure of Emotions , 1988 .

[20]  David E. Goldberg,et al.  Genetic Algorithms in Search Optimization and Machine Learning , 1988 .

[21]  D. Fennell.  INVESTIGATION INTO THE KING'S CROSS UNDERGROUND FIRE , 1988 .

[22]  Robert A. Whiteside,et al.  Implementing Linda for distributed and parallel processing , 1989, ICS '89.

[23]  Stephen A. Kowalewski.  Monte Albán'S Hinterland, Part. 2: Prehispanic Settlement Patterns In Tlacolula, Etla, And Ocotlan, The Valley Of Oaxaca, Mexico , 1989 .

[24]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[25]  A. Rubinstein,et al.  Bargaining and Markets , 1991 .

[26]  Harold H. Kelley,et al.  Lewin, Situations, and Interdependence , 1991 .

[27]  Anand S. Rao,et al.  Modeling Rational Agents within a BDI-Architecture , 1997, KR.

[28]  A. Tversky,et al.  Advances in prospect theory: Cumulative representation of uncertainty , 1992 .

[29]  Luis Enrique García Barrios,et al.  La modernización de la pobreza: dinámicas de cambio técnico entre los campesinos temporaleros de México , 1992 .

[30]  R. Chambers.  Challenging the Professions: Frontiers for Rural Development , 1993 .

[31]  B. Kogut,et al.  INTERFIRM COOPERATION AND STARTUP INNOVATION IN THE BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY. , 1993 .

[32]  Harri Ehtamo,et al.  Modeling and computational analysis of reactive behavior in organizations , 1994 .

[33]  D. Kleinman,et al.  Team coordination under individual and team goals , 1994 .

[34]  Ed J. Christopher,et al.  CATS 1990 household travel survey : technical documentation for the household, person and trip files , 1994 .

[35]  Zhiang Lin,et al.  A theoretical evaluation of measures of organizational design: interrelationship and performance predictability , 1994 .

[36]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: PAST RESEARCH, PRESENT FINDINGS, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS , 1995 .

[37]  Robert L. Axtell,et al.  Aligning simulation models: A case study and results , 1996, Comput. Math. Organ. Theory.

[38]  YAN JIN,et al.  The virtual design team: A computational model of project organizations , 1996, Comput. Math. Organ. Theory.

[39]  L. Beran,et al.  [Formal concept analysis]. , 1996, Casopis lekaru ceskych.

[40]  Kathleen M. Carley.  Validating Computational Models , 1996 .

[41]  Guy L. Steele,et al.  The Java Language Specification , 1996 .

[42]  Kathleen M. Carley,et al.  Modeling Organizational Adaptation as a Simulated Annealing Process , 1996 .

[43]  W. Powell,et al.  Interorganizational Collaboration and the Locus of Innovation: Networks of Learning in Biotechnology. , 1996 .

[44]  Richard L. Church,et al.  Modelling Community Evacuation Vulnerability Using GIS , 1997, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[45]  Jack P. C. Kleijnen,et al.  Sensitivity analysis and related analyses: A review of some statistical techniques , 1997 .

[46]  Peter Wegner,et al.  Why interaction is more powerful than algorithms , 1997, CACM.

[47]  Kathleen M. Carley,et al.  Organizational decision making and error in a dynamic task environment , 1997 .

[48]  A. Rubinstein.  Modeling Bounded Rationality , 1998 .

[49]  R. Axelrod.  Reviews book & software , 2022 .

[50]  Sholom M. Weiss,et al.  Predictive data mining - a practical guide , 1997 .

[51]  Dean S. Hartley.  Verification & validation in military simulations , 1997, WSC '97.

[52]  John H. Miller,et al.  Active Nonlinear Tests (Ants) of Complex Simulation Models , 1998 .

[53]  Mark S. Fox,et al.  An organizational ontology for enterprise modeling , 1998 .

[54]  Kathleen M. Carley,et al.  A PCANS Model of Structure in Organizations , 1998 .

[55]  E. Fehr.  A Theory of Fairness, Competition and Cooperation , 1998 .

[56]  Edwin R. Galea,et al.  A review of the methodologies used in the computer simulation of evacuation from the built environment , 1999 .

[57]  Alexander Wendt.  Social Theory of International Politics: “Ideas all the way down?”: on the constitution of power and interest , 1999 .

[58]  Uri Wilensky,et al.  GasLab—an Extensible Modeling Toolkit for Exploring Micro- and Macro- Views of Gases , 1999 .

[59]  K. Weick,et al.  Organizational change and development. , 1999, Annual review of psychology.

[60]  Peter T Landsberg,et al.  Why you cannot unscramble an egg Time and entropy: science and the unity of knowledge , 2019, Seeking Ultimates.

[61]  D. Prelec,et al.  Compound Invariant Weighting Functions in Prospect Theory , 2000 .

[62]  L. Argote,et al.  KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER: A BASIS FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN FIRMS , 2000 .

[63]  Gerhard Weiss,et al.  Computational Organization Theory , 2000 .

[64]  F. E.,et al.  A Relational Model of Data Large Shared Data Banks , 2000 .

[65]  R. Reynolds.  The impact of raiding on settlement patterns in the northern valley of Oaxaca: an approach using decision trees , 2000 .

[66]  T. Palmer.  Predicting uncertainty in forecasts of weather and climate , 2000 .

[67]  Andrea Omicini,et al.  From tuple spaces to tuple centres , 2001, Sci. Comput. Program..

[68]  Charles S. Spencer,et al.  Multilevel Selection and Political Evolution in the Valley of Oaxaca, 500–100 B.C. , 2001 .

[69]  Cliff Click,et al.  The Java HotSpot Server Compiler , 2001, Java Virtual Machine Research and Technology Symposium.

[70]  Lawrence A. Kuznar,et al.  Evolutionary applications of risk sensitivity models to socially stratified species: Comparison of sigmoid, concave, and linear functions , 2002 .

[71]  Steven C Bankes,et al.  Tools and techniques for developing policies for complex and uncertain systems , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[72]  Thomas W. Lucas,et al.  Better Designs for High-Dimensional Explorations of Distillations , 2002 .

[73]  Thierry Coupaye,et al.  ASM: a code manipulation tool to implement adaptable systems , 2002 .

[74]  Clifford Nass,et al.  Emotion in human-computer interaction , 2002 .

[75]  Cliff Joslyn,et al.  Relational Analytical Tools: VisTool and Formal Concept Analysis , 2002 .

[76]  Andrew J. I. Jones.  On the concept of trust , 2002, Decis. Support Syst..

[77]  Joshua M Epstein,et al.  Modeling civil violence: An agent-based computational approach , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[78]  T. Cova,et al.  Microsimulation of Neighborhood Evacuations in the Urban–Wildland Interface , 2002 .

[79]  Joshua M. Epstein,et al.  Growing Artificial Societies: Social Science from the Bottom Up , 1996 .

[80]  Bilal M. Ayyub,et al.  Probability, Statistics, and Reliability for Engineers and Scientists , 2003 .

[81]  Thomas J. Cova,et al.  A network flow model for lane-based evacuation routing , 2003 .

[82]  Michael K. Lauren,et al.  MAP-AWARE NON-UNIFORM AUTOMATA ( MANA ) — A NEW ZEALAND APPROACH TO SCENARIO MODELLING , 2003 .

[83]  Robin Cowan,et al.  The dynamics of collective invention , 2003 .

[84]  Joel A. C. Baum,et al.  Where Do Small Worlds Come From? , 2003 .

[85]  Yuko J Nakanishi,et al.  Assessing Emergency Preparedness of Transit Agencies: Focus on Performance Indicators , 2003 .

[86]  Duncan J. Watts,et al.  Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age , 2003 .

[87]  Kathleen M. Carley.  Dynamic Network Analysis , 2003 .

[88]  Olivier Barreteau,et al.  The joint use of role-playing games and models regarding negotiation processes: characterization of associations , 2003, J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul..

[89]  Kristi M. Branch,et al.  An Evaluation of DOE-EM Public Participation Programs , 2003 .

[90]  William G. Frederick,et al.  Environmental constraints and sigmoid utility: implications for value, risk sensitivity, and social status , 2003 .

[91]  L. Putterman,et al.  Trust in the New Economy , 2003 .

[92]  C. Spencer,et al.  Militarism, Resistance, and Early State Development in Oaxaca, Mexico , 2003 .

[93]  E. Ostrom,et al.  The Struggle to Govern the Commons , 2003, Science.

[94]  Henry Chesbrough,et al.  The Logic of Open Innovation: Managing Intellectual Property , 2003 .

[95]  L. Cederman.  Modeling the Size of Wars: From Billiard Balls to Sandpiles , 2003, American Political Science Review.

[96]  Georg von Krogh,et al.  Open Source Software and the "Private-Collective" Innovation Model: Issues for Organization Science , 2003, Organ. Sci..

[97]  D. Sallach.  INTERPRETIVE AGENTS : IDENTIFYING PRINCIPLES , DESIGNING MECHANISMS , 2003 .

[98]  H. Van Dyke Parunak,et al.  Universality in multi-agent systems , 2004, Proceedings of the Third International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, 2004. AAMAS 2004..

[99]  Aravind Srinivasan,et al.  Structural and algorithmic aspects of massive social networks , 2004, SODA '04.

[100]  Aravind Srinivasan,et al.  Modelling disease outbreaks in realistic urban social networks , 2004, Nature.

[101]  Gary E. Horne,et al.  Data farming: discovering surprise , 2004, Proceedings of the 2004 Winter Simulation Conference, 2004..

[102]  J. Taylor.  Understanding and managing systemic innovation in project-based industries , 2004 .

[103]  Andrew Ilachinski,et al.  Artificial War: Multiagent-Based Simulation of Combat , 2004 .

[104]  Andrea Omicini,et al.  Coordination Infrastructures in the Engineering of Multiagent Systems , 2004 .

[105]  A. Sullivan,et al.  A hybrid cellular automata/semi-physical model of fire growth , 2004 .

[106]  Franco Zambonelli,et al.  Self-maintained distributed tuples for field-based coordination in dynamic networks , 2004, SAC '04.

[107]  Bart Verspagen,et al.  The Small worlds of Strategic Technology Alliances , 2004 .

[108]  Alessandro De Gloria,et al.  Evaluation and optimization of method calls in Java , 2004, Softw. Pract. Exp..

[109]  Kathleen M. Carley,et al.  Going Beyond the Data: Empirical Validation Leading to Grounded Theory , 2004, Comput. Math. Organ. Theory.

[110]  L. R. Leighton.  Are We Asking The Right Question? , 2004 .

[111]  S. Tisue.  NetLogo : Design and Implementation of a Multi-Agent Modeling Environment , 2004 .

[112]  D. Watts.  The “New” Science of Networks , 2004 .

[113]  P. Torrens,et al.  Geosimulation: Automata-based modeling of urban phenomena , 2004 .

[114]  J. Levine,et al.  Collaboration: The Social Context of Theory Development , 2004, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[115]  W. Powell,et al.  Network Dynamics and Field Evolution: The Growth of Interorganizational Collaboration in the Life Sciences1 , 2005, American Journal of Sociology.

[116]  Ivette Perfecto,et al.  The Future of Farming and Conservation , 2005, Science.

[117]  Christopher L. Tucci,et al.  Interfirm Modularity and Its Implications for Product Development , 2005 .

[118]  Thomas J. Cova,et al.  Setting Wildfire Evacuation Trigger Points Using Fire Spread Modeling and GIS , 2005, Trans. GIS.

[119]  Robert G. Reynolds,et al.  Unraveling ancient mysteries: reimagining the past using evolutionary computation in a complex gaming environment , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation.

[120]  Corey Phelps,et al.  Interfirm Collaboration Networks: The Impact of Small World Connectivity on Firm Innovation , 2005 .

[121]  Thomas J. Cova,et al.  Public Safety in the Urban–Wildland Interface: Should Fire-Prone Communities Have a Maximum Occupancy? , 2005 .

[122]  William F. Lawless,et al.  Consensus Seeking Versus Truth Seeking , 2005 .

[123]  H. Van Dyke Parunak,et al.  Pheromone learning for self-organizing agents , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A: Systems and Humans.

[124]  Aaron Clauset,et al.  Scale Invariance in Global Terrorism , 2005, physics/0502014.

[125]  B. Uzzi,et al.  Collaboration and Creativity: The Small World Problem1 , 2005, American Journal of Sociology.

[126]  Susan M. Sanchez,et al.  Very large fractional factorial and central composite designs , 2005, TOMC.

[127]  B. Arrigo,et al.  Social psychology, terrorism, and identity: a preliminary re-examination of theory, culture, self, and society. , 2005, Behavioral sciences & the law.

[128]  Carlos Gershenson,et al.  Self-organizing Traffic Lights , 2004, Complex Syst..

[129]  Mei-Po Kwan,et al.  Emergency response after 9/11: the potential of real-time 3D GIS for quick emergency response in micro-spatial environments , 2005, Comput. Environ. Urban Syst..

[130]  David G. Groves,et al.  A General, Analytic Method for Generating Robust Strategies and Narrative Scenarios , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[131]  Thomas Dunlap,et al.  A concise history of the Third Reich , 2006 .

[132]  Thomas Berger,et al.  Multi-agent simulation for the targeting of development policies in less-favored areas , 2006 .

[133]  H. Van Dyke Parunak,et al.  Extrapolation of the Opponent's Past Behaviors , 2006 .

[134]  Catherine Dibble,et al.  Computational Laboratories for Spatial Agent-Based Models , 2006 .

[135]  B. Tivnan,et al.  HOW SIMPLE IS SIMPLE ENOUGH ? MILITARY MODELING CASE STUDIES , 2006 .

[136]  Paul Windrum,et al.  Empirical Validation of Agent Based Models: A Critical Survey , 2006 .

[137]  Steven L. Lytinen,et al.  Agent-based Simulation Platforms: Review and Development Recommendations , 2006, Simul..

[138]  D. Murphey,et al.  The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century , 2006 .

[139]  M. V. van Ittersum,et al.  Trade-off Analysis for Sustainability Evaluation: A Case Study of the Purhepecha Region, Mexico , 2006 .

[140]  B. Rockenbach,et al.  The Competitive Advantage of Sanctioning Institutions , 2006, Science.

[141]  H. Chesbrough,et al.  Beyond High Tech: Early Adopters of Open Innovation in Other Industries , 2006 .

[142]  Raymond E. Levitt,et al.  Simulating learning in interorganizational networks: The insidious role of task interdependence and relational instability in system-level learning , 2006 .

[143]  Chris Cornelis,et al.  Towards a Provenance-Preserving Trust Model in Agent Networks , 2006, MTW.

[144]  Mark E. J. Newman,et al.  Structure and Dynamics of Networks , 2009 .

[145]  A. Tversky,et al.  Prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk — Source link , 2007 .

[146]  Jorge Louçã,et al.  A quantum metric of organizational performance: Terrorism and counterterrorism , 2007, Comput. Math. Organ. Theory.

[147]  H. Van Dyke Parunak,et al.  Real-Time Evolutionary Agent Characterization and Prediction , 2007 .