ASM-2.2 documentation set

Project Homepage: http://ArtStkMkt.sourceforge.net
Current Maintainer: Paul Johnson <pauljohn@ku.edu>
Date: November 3, 2001

Maybe a picture is worth a thousand words.

The hierarchy of objects looks something like this:

The major aims in the revision from ASM-2.0 to ASM-2.2 have been

1. Convert wherever possible from ordinary C code to object-oriented code. This has many implications, including the follwing
   • Eliminate the usage of large C structs, replace them with Objects (e.g., BFCast, BFParams)
   • Eliminate (or hide where necessary) any direct allocation of memory and pointer math.
   • Introduce Swarm collections and iterators for repetitive chores.
2. Isolate all direct manipulation of "bits" into subclasses (BFCast, BitVector) in order to make BFagent more readable and editing less error prone.
3. Eliminate global variables wherever possible.
4. Use Swarm's archiver tools to control simulation parameters. A high level Parameter class is created at the outset, and it holds instances of parameter objects for the ASMModelSwarm (ASMModelParams) and the bit forecasting agents (BFParams).
5. Illustrate various methods by which Swarm models can output data about a simulation.
6. Clear up and simplify the usage of Swarm conventions in designing the model's schedule.
7. Introduce Swarm random number generators and distributions.
8. More effectively document and present this large, interesting set of code.