Swarm: documentation main page
From SwarmWiki
This page is the starting place to find documentation and learning materials for Swarm.
Contents |
User support via support@swarm.org
The primary source of user support for Swarm software is the support@swarm.org email list, where questions are answered by fellow Swarm users on a voluntary basis. To keep from wearing out these volunteers, please first try the other resources listed below, and try searching the support email list archives because many common problems have already been addressed there. If you still need help, post a question to support@swarm.org (you must first subscribe!). Use support@swarm.org for problems installing and using Swarm software, reporting bugs, asking how to program specific things, and discussing topics related to Swarm software. Discussion of general modeling issues should be directed instead to modelling@swarm.org.
Official Documentation Set for Swarm 2.2
This book (on-line or downloadable) includes the following sections:
- A Brief Introduction to Swarm (not updated from previous versions)
- Getting Started with Swarm (there is little here because up-to-date information is now maintained here on the Swarm wiki)
- Reference Guide to Swarm 2.2, which is the Objective-C Swarm bible. It includes:
- Swarm Changes and Compatibility: porting notes to assist in upgrading applications from previous versions to Swarm 2.1. No porting notes are available for Swarm 2.2 because there are few differences from 2.1.
- Descriptions of all the classes, methods, and protocols in all the Swarm libraries. This is where you look to see what is in Swarm, and how to use it.
- Indexes to the protocols and methods.
The Documentation Set is available:
Objective-C Reference Guide
In addition to being available on-line as part of the Documentation Set, the Objective-C reference guide by itself is available (in html) for download:
Java Reference Guide to Swarm 2.2
The Java Reference Guide provides comprehensive documentation of all the packages and classes of Java Swarm 2.2, in standard Java API format. It is available on-line at: http://www.swarm.org/swarmdocs-2.2/refbook-java/
Alternatively, it can be downloaded:
Java Demo
We provide step-by-step instructions for compiling and running the Java program Jheatbugs-3.0 on Windows XP using Swarm 2.2. Our demo covers interactive (visual) mode as well as batch mode (multiple runs with output to files).
Japanese Document Set
The Swarm 1.4 documentation has been translated into Japanese by Kozo Keikaku Engineering Inc.
Swarm User Guide
The Swarm User Guide is somewhat out of date but still a good place for beginners to learn what Swarm is and get started using it. Among the topics covered are:
- An introduction to object-oriented programming
- The conceptual foundation of Swarm (essential for using Swarm successfully!)
- Swarm's graphical interfaces
- Using tutorials and examples to learn how to program with Swarm
- Using the collections, random number, and serialization tools
- Debugging
Frequently Asked Questions
There are currently two FAQs for Swarm. Paul Johnson's FAQ is by far the largest and most actively maintained. But with Swarm 2.2, much of the information regarding Java on Windows is obsolete — see our step-by-step instructions for compiling and running the Java program Jheatbugs-3.0 on Windows XP using Swarm 2.2. Our demo covers interactive (visual) mode as well as batch mode (multiple runs with output to files).
There is also a Swarm FAQ section of this wiki. It contains a variety of tips and tricks for installing Swarm, building models, fixing problems, and making your code work faster and better.
Example and template codes
Using existing models as examples or templates is one of the fastest ways to get started with Swarm.
- See the applications and contributed code page for many example codes. There is information at the applications page on how to install and run these.
- See additional template software for a variety of platforms, including Java and Objective-C Swarm, at Software_templates.
Tutorials
Presentation materials from several Swarm classes are available at Swarm_tutorials.
(Altogether different is the Swarm tutorial model, which you can find from here on the applications page and is discussed in the User Guide.)
Our step-by-step instructions for compiling and running the Java program Jheatbugs-3.0 on Windows XP using Swarm 2.2 are in effect a tutorial, covering interactive (visual) mode as well as batch mode (multiple runs with output to files).
Objective-C documentation
A variety of materials on the Objective-C language are on the Objective-C page.
Publications and papers on Swarm
Do you need a citation for Swarm? We recommend:
- Minar, N., R. Burkhart, C. Langton, and M. Askenazi. 1996. The Swarm simulation system: a toolkit for building multi-agent simulations. Working Paper 96-06-042, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe. Available in postscript from the Santa Fe Institute's publications site or here; or File:MinarEtAl96.pdf.
You can also cite the software directly:
- Swarm Development Group. 1999. Swarm. www.swarm.org. Swarm Development Group, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
A list of papers and presentations on Swarm is at Papers_on_Swarm.
![[Main Page]](/stylesheets/images/wiki.png)