What's So Great About Anylogic 6? a Bit of Anylogic Background

What’s so great about AnyLogic 6? Dave Buxton ([email protected]) dseConsulting LTD UK agent for Sales, Project Support & Training ‘Happy to listen to all comments & questions and influence xjTEK’s product development’ A bit of AnyLogic background • xjTEK – Founded in 1992 & release AnyLogic 5 in 2000 – Version 6 launched in 2006 – xjTEK is 12 people • Plus N America • Plus Agents • User base is mainly… – Russia & North America – 140 known users – France & UK growing – 10 University customers • Plans within the UK – Book currently being written! – Web-based community forum (jointly with North American office) – Events • YOR, Warwick, 24 – 26 th March 09 • 1 day free workshop during spring – ‘getting started’ • ‘Official’ 3 or 5 day training course during Summer What’s it trying to achieve? • Multi-paradigm approach to simulation – It’s the only software that does this! • Models can contain approaches taken from Discrete Event & System Dynamics – Master of none? • Integrating Agent-based concepts is simple – Any body tried using swarm? – Handles complex systems • Change the focus from being on the modelling approach , start focussing on the problem What is AnyLogic? • An eclipse environment – handles time & the experiment – A series of Libraries that short-cut model development • The libraries are a way into AnyLogic, not the language itself! • Each block is actually just bits of AnyLogic code • Best illustrated by Version 5 • Model development is kept very close to the underlying Java – Advantages • Make simulation very powerful and very flexible – But • In the short term , its a steeper learning curve than Simu8 What Java do you need to know? • You don’t need to be a Java Programmer – AnyLogic handles most requirements • An good understanding of the concept of ‘Object Orientated’ programming (before you start?) – Class – Object instances – Methods – Inheritance • And how these map to AnyLogic ( they don’t always use the same phrases! ) – ie, Functions == Methods • How to use the java API & library within your models • But you can do simple models keeping with a paradigm without any of this….i think! Things to remember • Its important to say on top of version releases – Updates are incremental and even the move from 6.3 to 6.3.1 can introduce some new features • Ctrl space – For code completion – But also as a hint about what method could be used! • Use refactoring – Ctrl enter • Use the help desk from the XJ website – Or give me a buzz • Its hard to debug! – Compile regularly, Use traceln(), Output key statistics to text files / databases – Buy the Professional edition!! • Some things use more memory than others – Significant in Agent based methods Final word – The Professional edition • export your models as stand-alone programs – Embed them into a DSS invisibly to the user • Simpler database (and excel and text file and …) connections • work in teams & use version control software, • debug at Java level & step through the code • develop your own libraries • run complex experiments – Optimisation etc.

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