Agent-Based and Individual-Based Modeling: A Practical Introduction 59468th Edition

Very good introduction to both agent based modeling and the NetLogo software. A good text for a modeling course. Good accompanying on-line resources. My only complaint is that the book is a little uneven, chapter to chapter, in the level of detail and instruction. Those using this book to teach themselves may get frustrated, as the authors 'take the training wheels off' very quickly. Some basic things seem under-explained, while others are over-explained. I do like that the book isn't a step by step 'push this button' cookbook (like most computer books), but arguably there's a bit too much philosophy of modeling material at times. People with no or little programming experience may get unnecessarily bogged down stymied by simple problems that a teacher or classmate could quickly answer. The strength of the examples and exercises is that they very quickly get the reader to think critically about modeling and its assumptions; the weakness of the more philosophical approach is it will turn off people who are more interested in quickly learning the software. This is NOT a NetLogo instruction manual. While those with some programming experience and/or a fair bit of patience and tenacity can use this book to teach themselves how to program ABMs, the best use of this book is probably as a textbook in a modeling course.

This is a very well written introduction to agent-based modeling. The authors are luminaries in the field and this book provides a very useful, clear, and effective introduction to practical modeling. The choice of Netlogo as the programming language is very wise, as it lets the reader quickly get to work writing models without getting bogged down in programming details. This book is suitable for a text in a formal course, or as a self-study guide. The emphasis on ODD (Overview, Design, Details) approach to designing and documenting models is very helpful and there are good examples throughout of using the ODD description to replicate models used in published research.I recommend this book both as a textbook for teaching agent-based modeling and as a reference book for anyone working in the field.

I had to purchase this book for a course, not my choice. It first starts very well, with a good basic explanation of NetLogo, and fun exercises; then, it just jumps from baby easy to "screw you, you're done, throw this book away". Already in chapter 2, there is a line of code missing in the baby-steps, but fortunately the entire code for the exercise is provided. In chapter 5, you're on your own. That's it, good luck! Well, it would not be a problem if at least, you were on your own but the entire code was provided somewhere, anywhere, for you to check your work. Is that done? Nope, of course not! So, basically you'll never know if you were right, unless you read some blog somewhere about the precise exercise, and then again, who knows if that's even right?

I really appreciated that the book focuses on the high level concepts and planning, rather than details such as syntax which you can get from other resources. There are many notes to people with programming experience to relate their knowledge to NetLogo and help prevent frustration. I wish other books about software realized how important understanding the goals and concepts are as opposed to details which you can slot into place once you have a better understanding of the big picture.

Excellent resource for self study. My schedule doesn't lend itself to a regular class schedule (assuming I could even find a class on this) so having a book like this has been extremely helpful in learning ABM and Netlogo on my own. The authors really did a nice job of guiding the reader progressively thru the concepts and methods.

This book has become the go-to source to students and researchers looking to learn agent-based modeling. I meet students from anthropology, economics, and the biological sciences who state that the clear, structured approach in this book is far and away the best way for individuals to pursue self-study. As well, it works well in the classroom.

Good intro to NetLogo. There is a healthy focus on getting data that is testable and doing "work" as opposed to random exploration.Left me hungry for more.

This books easy to follow and a good intro to ABM.

I bought this book to accompany a module on my masters course, and it was incredibly helpful. Using this and the online Netlogo documentation, I was able to get moderately fluent in a couple of weeks. It probably won't turn you into a programming legend, but as a solid introduction to the basics and mechanics of the software, it is very good. The book is well written and accessible, and the code is all availble online (at railsback-grimm-abm-book.com)If you need to learn Netlogo from the ground up, this is a really good place to start.

Great book to get you started in netlogo. Emphasises the need to think in a scientific way which is crucial as it's easy to program a simulation, but hard to program one that is illuminating in a scientific way. That scientific method alone makes it worth the read.The learning curve alternates from easy to impossibly steep and back to easy again, but don't be disheartened and be prepared to learn a lot by copying other net logo models people have done on the internet.

Well structured, easy to follow and, most importantly, it doesn't do all the work for you. On the first chapters you are given a recipe to follow as you build your models, but from there you are left on your own to find your way in model building and programming. Great way to learn.

Excellent for learning to code in netlogo

The book is aimed for postgraduates or advanced undergraduates, but in my view it is a very introductory book which is suitable for 2nd year undergraduate. good for introduction, but it does not cover enough material to be truly useful for researchers.