MASON (Java)

MASON

Developer(s)| Sean Luke
Initial release| 2003; 22 years ago (2003)
Stable release|

20 / September 3, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-09-03)

Written in| Java
Platform| Java platform
Size| 3.3 MB
Available in| English
Type| Agent-based model simulation
License| Academic Free License, version 3.0 (with caveats)
Website| cs.gmu.edu/~eclab/projects/mason/

MASON is a multi-agent simulation environment developed in Java.

## Development

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MASON is developed at George Mason University's Evolutionary Computation Laboratory in conjunction with the GMU Center for Social Complexity. First released in 2003, the environment continues to be maintained and kept up to date. The name, as well as referring to the parent institution, derives from the acronym Multi-Agent Simulator Of Neighborhoods (or Networks).[1]

MASON development started within the Java.net environment,[2] then moved to Google Code[3] and is now at GitHub.[4]

Whilst MASON is less extensive than other similar libraries it is designed with simplicity and execution speed as a priority.[5]

## Applets

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Applets developed using MASON include Craig Reynolds' Boids algorithm, Balls and Bands, a simulation of Hooke's law, an L-system generator, Conway's Game of Life, Sugarscape and autonomous multi-robot systems.[6]

MASON may be used with the Eclipse Integrated development environment.[7]

## See also

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* Swarm intelligence
* Comparison of agent-based modeling software

## References

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1. ^ "MASON Multiagent Simulation Toolkit". Retrieved 19 January 2011.
2. ^ "mason: Home". Retrieved 19 January 2011.[permanent dead link]
3. ^ "mason - Project Hosting on Google Code". Retrieved 19 January 2011.
4. ^ "mason - Project Hosting on Github". GitHub. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
5. ^ Railsback, S. F.; Lytinen, S. L.; Jackson, S. K. (September 2006). "Agent-based simulation platforms: review and development recommendations". Simulation. 82 (9): 609–623\. doi:10.1177/0037549706073695. S2CID 466746.
6. ^ Tucker Balch. "MASON instructions". Retrieved 23 Apr 2012.
7. ^ Lytinen, Steve; Railsback, Steve. "How to Set Up MASON in Eclipse" (PDF). Swarm Development Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

## External links

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* Official website