intro

[Andreas Baumann]

Hi !

Swarm is going to Germany !

I'm a german scientist working in the field of modelling complex systems,
especially modeling of the behavior of geographic regions.
My work in this field is a part of a bigger ecological oriented
research project. I think that the Swarm Simulation System with it's
individual-based modeling approach could be the right tools for my modeling
tasks.  The hierarchical nature of swarm is also a very usefull
modeling feature.
I'm also a software engineer with a experience of more than 5 year in OOD and 
OOP
including a experience of 3 years in programming Objective - C on  NextStep.

I try to give some information about my potential SWARM applications:


The geographic region is a district characterized by following data:
        area :                  3058 km"
        population:             163719
        population density:     54 inhabitants / km "
        subdevided in 163 communities
        land use:
                agriculture 63,3 %
                forest 22 %
                water 5,1 %
                other 9,6 %


In the past the agriculture in the GDR was much more important then in the
present. The economic structure of the district was changed 
very fast in the last 5 years . This is the reason for some social economic
problems. This problems could lead to a dramatic reduction of the population in
the future, especially in many litle villages of the district.  
On the other hand the importance of environmental protection is grown in the 
last
5 years. 
This situation leads to the questions :

Which is the right regional development strategy to improve the economic
structure and efficiency, so that the population have enough income, whitout or
minimal negativ effects to the environment ?


How can i realize a sustainable regional development ?

I think a evaluation of regional development strategies is only possible if i 
use
a simulation model of the region. In the last year i collected some data about
population, firms, infrastructure, land use, natural resources related to each
local government.
The process of data collection is not finished but at this time a have enough
data to built a prototyp of a region simulation model.
In the last year i have also examined some simulation strategies to simulate
complex systems. In this context i determined that knowlegde and research 
results
i can get from the other parts of the project in the most cases are "individual"
- related. In the first step i wanted to use a simulation approach related to
simulation models of F. VESTER ( "Sensitivitaetsmodell" ) and W. GROSSMANN.
Because my simulation model should deliver simulation results local governments
related, this approach was not suitable. In addition the other approach need 
more
explicit information about complex interactions. 
  
I think the Individual-based Modelling is a good way to implement the
Individual-based knowledge ( knowledge about processes in a firm, knowledge 
about
small groups of inhabitants, knowledge about interactions between a farm and 
some
environmental aspects and so on. ) 

Some agents which i want to define and implement based on Swarm:


        - a small population group agent , representing a part of a community 
population
( grouped by age and employment )

        - a community population agent using the hierarchical nature of         
          Swarm

        - a "sub district" agent consisting of some community population agents
        - a farm agent

        - a  trade firm agent

        - a industry firm agent

        - a tourism related firm

        - a community agent

        - different kinds of ecological agents

I'm very interested in collaborating with the developers and users of SWARM.

At the end of my short introduction i have a question which is mainly related to
the SWARM developer. I know that this is not the right time to discuss this
question in detail but i think it could be usefull to think about that for the
future development of SWARM (the next SWARM generation).
I think the choice of Objective - C for the implementation of SWARM was good.
Becource i'm very interested in innovations in the field of software engineering
and software development i have determined that the new oo programming language
JAVA from SUN is a very usefull and interesting programming language especially
in internet and distributed computing related fields. I have never seen a
programming language which was accepted by thousends of programmers and by the
most leading software firms in a so short time. I think JAVA will be the 
standart
internet programming language in the near future.

I attach a small collection of JAVA related  announcements to my e-mail.

I want to know if JAVA could play a role in a future version of SWARM ?

Cheers

Andreas


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dr.-Ing. Andreas Baumann
Center for Agricultural Landscape and Land Use Research
Eberswalderstr. 84
D 15374 M ncheberg
Tel.: +49 - 33 43 2 / 82 337
Fax : +49 - 33 43 2 / 82 334



Some Java related announcements:


**********************************************************************************************



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

    BORLAND INTERNATIONAL TO DELIVER TOOLS FOR SUN'S
             JAVA INTERNET PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. -- November 8, 1995 -- Borland International Inc. today
announced it will license Sun Microsystem's Java programming language and 
provide world
class development tools based on the language. The agreement, presented at the 
Java
Conference at Sun Microsystems, Inc., highlights that Borland will build a high 
performance
visual rapid application development (RAD) environment for creating Java 
applications. The
product, code named Latte, will be developed in Java and will radically 
increase the speed of
developing Java applications. 

"Following the release and enthusiastic market response to Borland's Delphi, we 
are excited
about Borland applying its core technology and expertise to a Java development
environment," said Eric Schmidt, Sun's Chief Technology Officer. "Borland tools 
will help to
position Java as the platform of choice for a new generation of distributed 
computing
applications." 

"This agreement with Sun will enable Borland to deliver high quality 
development solutions
to the exploding Internet market," explained Paul Gross,Borland's senior vice 
president of
Research and Development. "We believe that Java's platform independent 
capabilities will
drive its acceptance as a distributed computing development environment and 
create a need
for high performance, rapid application development tools." 

"We will take a phased approach in delivering these solutions so we can deliver 
technology
into the hands of Java developers as soon as possible," said Gross. "In 
addition, since
Netscape will deliver the first commercial Web products enabled by Java, our 
Java tools
customers will be able to take advantage of Netscape's powerful clients and 
servers as a
new platform for application development." 

"We are very supportive of this announcement," said Marc Andreessen, co-founder 
and vice
president of Technology for Netscape Communications. "Borland and Sun are 
leading
providers of application development technology. I anticipate this relationship 
will generate
world-class tools for Java that will accelerate the growth of the Internet as a 
platform for
corporate computing solutions." 

Borland will deliver Latte technology in several stages with the first 
commerical release
scheduled to ship in the first half of 1996. Borland will focus on the 
following areas in its
product development: 

       Visual RAD tools to increase productivity for developing Internet and Web
       applications 
       Object-oriented, component based architectures that promote reuse 
       High performance compilation 
       Scalable/distributed database access 

To register to receive additional information on Borland's internet development 
tools,
customers can access Borland's new Java Web Site at
http://www.borland.com/Product/java/java.html. 

Sun's Java 

Java is the result of years of research and development at Sun Microsystems. It 
is the first
language to provide a comprehensive, robust platform independent solution to 
the challenges
of programming for the Internet. Java features portability, security and 
advanced networking
without compromising performance. Hot Java, a web browser, which gives users the
responsiveness and rich media of a CD-ROM and the infinite extensibility of the 
Internet,
uses the Java language to expand the capabilities of current browsers. Hot Java 
allows users
to interact with multimedia applications in real-time and promotes the 
downloading of small
software programs. 

Sun Microsystems 

With annual revenues of $6 billion, Sun Microsystems, Inc., provides solutions 
that enable
customers to build and maintain open network computing environments. Widely 
recognized
as a proponent of open standards, the company is involved in the design, 
manufacture and
sale of products, technologies and services for commercial and technical 
computing. Sun's
SPARC workstations, multiprocessing servers, SPARC microprocessors, Solaris 
operating
software and ISO-certified service organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX 
industry.
Founded in 1982, Sun is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and employs 
more than
14,000 people worldwide.) 

Borland: Making Development Easier 

Borland International Inc. (NASDAQ:BORL) is a leading provider of products and 
services
targeted to software developers. Borland is distinguished for its high- quality 
software
development tools, which include Delphi, Borland C++, Visual dBASE, Paradox and
InterBase. Borland's award-winning products are supported through comprehensive
programs for small- and large-sized software developers, corporate developers, 
value added
resellers and systems integrators. Founded in 1983, Borland is headquartered in 
Scotts
Valley, California. 

**********************************************************************************************


Netscape and Sun announce that 28 industry-leading companies have endorsed
JavaScript, the open, cross-platform object scripting language for enterprise
networks and the Internet, as a complement to Java. 

**********************************************************************************************



                What's New with Java and HotJava

December 7, 1995 - Today Microsoft has announced that it has signed a letter of 
intent
with Sun for a Java technology source license and that Sun and Microsoft are 
working
through the licensing details. (For more information, see the complete press 
release.) 

December 6, 1996 - IBM has licensed Sun Microsystems' Java programming language
to improve the way customers view and interact with Internet content. (For more
information, see the complete press release.)

December 6, 1995 - Adobe Systems Inc. announced today it has signed an 
agreement with
Sun Microsystems Inc. to broadly license Sun's Java programming language and 
integrate
Java support into future versions of Adobe PageMill Web authoring software and 
Adobe
Acrobat electronic document software. (For more information, see the complete 
press
release.) 

December 4, 1995 - Sun Microsystems, Inc. has announced the Java Cup 
International, a
contest to promote the creation and public availability of small, 
platform-independent
applications called Java "applets." Software developers will compete to develop 
the most
innovative and creative applets. The Java Cup International contest begins 
immediately and
ends March 31, 1996. Winners will be announced in May 1996. (For more 
information, visit
http://javacontest.sun.com/.)

December 4, 1995 - Netscape Communications Corporation and Sun Microsystems, 
Inc.,
today announced JavaScript(TM), an open, cross-platform object scripting 
language for the
creation and customization of applications on enterprise networks and the 
Internet. For more
information, see the complete press release.) 

December 4, 1995 - Sun, Silicon Graphics and Macromedia announce they have 
agreed to
work together on a new set of open multimedia formats and application 
programming
interfaces (APIs). 
In addition, SGI announces it is licensing Java. (For more information, see the 
complete press
release.) 

December 4, 1995 - Sun, Silicon Graphics and Netscape announce mutual 
endorsement of
technologies that will merge 3D, multimedia and interactivity on the World Wide 
Web,
including Java, JavaScript and VRML. (For more information, see the complete 
press release.)

                             prior newsworthy items 



                               On the Web

Brian Nelson of CNN Interactive writes about the "jolt from Java".



                                More News

SunSoft announces the 1996 Developer Camp series to provide basic training on 
the Java
technology for developers. Camps will be held in 21 locations across the US and 
Canada
during January, February and March. (more information and registration details)

We're even getting noticed Down Under; Hot Java was voted Internet Product of 
the Year
by Australian magazine "Publishing Essentials". Here's a quote.

Developers! Stop by Borland's Java developer's site to tell them what kind of 
tools you
want, and register to receive on-going updates on development.

We're hiring! Check out our job listings. 

Yes, there will be a Java Book Series. Due out this spring and published by
Addison-Wesley. 

The 1.0 Beta 2 release of the Java Developers Kit is now available. This version
supports SPARC Solaris, Windows NT, and Windows 95. See the Java Developers Kit 
page
for full details and downloading instructions. 

The full sources of the 1.0 Beta release of the Java Developers Kit is also 
available.
The release includes sources for SPARC Solaris, Windows NT, and Windows 95. See 
the
Java Developers Kit 1.0 Beta Source Release page for full details.