NetLogo is a programmable modeling environment for simulating natural and social phenomena. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Modelers can give instructions to hundreds or thousands of independent "agents" all operating in parallel. This makes it possible to explore the connection between the micro-level behavior of individuals and the macro-level patterns that emerge from the interaction of many individuals.
NetLogo lets students open simulations and "play" with them, exploring their behavior under various conditions. It is also an "authoring tool" which enables students, teachers and curriculum developers to create their own models. NetLogo is simple enough that students and teachers can easily run simulations or even build their own. And, it is advanced enough to serve as a powerful tool for researchers in many fields.
NetLogo has extensive documentation and tutorials for all of its features. It also comes with a Models Library, which is a large collection of pre-written simulations that can be used and modified. These simulations address many content areas in the natural and social sciences, including biology and medicine, physics and chemistry, mathematics and computer science, and economics and social psychology. Several model-based inquiry curricula using NetLogo are currently under development.
NetLogo can also power a classroom participatory-simulation tool called HubNet. Through the use of handheld devices such as Texas Instruments (TI-83+) calculators, each student can control an agent in a simulation over a wireless network. (Note: HubNet is not yet released to the general public. Follow this link for more information.)
NetLogo is the next generation of the series of multi-agent modeling languages that started with StarLogo. It builds off the functionality of our product StarLogoT and adds significant new features and a redesigned language and user interface. NetLogo is written in Java so it can run on any operating system (Mac, Windows, Linux, et al). It can be run as a standalone application, or as an "applet" within a web browser.
You can use the chart below to help familiarize yourself with the new features NetLogo has to offer.
| StarLogoT | NetLogo | Features |
|---|---|---|
| X | X | Fully programmable |
| X | X | Language is Logo dialect extended to support agents and parallelism |
| X | X | Interface builder w/ buttons, sliders, monitors, switches, text boxes |
| X | X | Info area for annotating your model |
| X | X | Powerful and flexible plotting system |
| X | X | Agent Monitors for inspecting agents |
| X | X | Export and import model function (save and restore state of model) |
| X | Cross-platform: runs on MacOS, Windows, Linux, et al | |
| X | Web-enabled (run within a web browser or download and run locally) | |
| X | Models can be saved as applets to be embedded in a web page | |
| X | Unlimited numbers of agents and variables | |
| X | Double precision arithmetic | |
| X | Simplified language structure | |
| X | "Agentsets" make many programming tasks easier | |
| X | Syntax-highlighting code editor | |
| X | Rotatable and scalable vector turtle shapes | |
| X | Exact on-screen turtle positioning | |
| X | Redesigned user interface | |
| X | Text labels for turtles and patches | |
| X | New primitives | |
| X | BehaviorSpace: a tool used to collect data from multiple runs of a model | |
| X | HubNet: participatory simulations using networked handheld devices | |
| X | Converts StarLogoT models into NetLogo models |