Agent-based and individual-based modeling : a practical introduction / Steven F. Railsback and Volker Grimm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-331) and index.

Models, agent-based models, and the modeling cycle -- Getting started with NetLogo -- Describing and formulating ABMs : the ODD protocol -- Implementing a first agent-based model -- From animations to science -- Testing your program -- Emergence -- Observation -- Sensing -- Adaptive behavior and objectives -- Prediction -- Interaction -- Scheduling -- Stochasticity -- Collectives -- Patterns for model structure -- Theory development -- Parameterization and calibration -- Analyzing and understanding ABMs -- Sensitivity, uncertainty, and robustness analysis -- Where to go from here.

Agent-based and Individual-based Modeling has become the standard texbook on the subject for classroom use and self-instruction. Drawing on the latest version of NetLogo and fully updated with new examples, exercises, and an enhanced text for easier comprehension, this is the essential resource for anyone seeking to understand how the dynamics of biological, social, and other complex systems arise from the characteristics and behaviors of the agents that make up these systems. Steven Railsback and Volker Grimm lead students step-wise through the processes of designing, programming, documenting, and doing scientific research with agent-based models, focusing on the adaptive behaviors that make these models necessary. They cover the fundamentals of modeling and model analysis, introduce key modeling concepts, and demonstrate how to implement them using NetLogo. They also address pattern-oriented modeling, an invaluable strategy for modeling real world problems and developing theory. This accessible and authoritative book focuses on modeling as a tool for understanding real complex systems. It explains how to pose a specific question, use observations from actual systems to design models, write and test software, and more.--Page 4 of cover.