astronomy

StarLogo

StarLogo is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand StarLogo rather than just read about it. In short: StarLogo is an agent-based simulation language developed by Mitchel Resnick, Eric Klopfer, and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and Scheller Teacher Education Program in Massachusetts. It is an extension of the Logo programming language, a dialect of Lisp.

Key takeaways

StarLogo belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect StarLogo to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of StarLogo from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

StarLogo is an agent-based simulation language developed by Mitchel Resnick, Eric Klopfer, and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and Scheller Teacher Education Program in Massachusetts. It is an extension of the Logo programming language, a dialect of Lisp. Designed for education, StarLogo can be used by students to model or simulate the behavior of decentralized systems. The first StarLogo ran on a Connection Machine 2 parallel computer. A subsequent version ran on Macintosh computers. It was later renamed MacStarLogo, and now is named MacStarLogo Classic. The current StarLogo is written in the language Java and works on most computers. StarLogo is also available in a version named OpenStarLogo. Its source code is available online, but the license under which it is released is not an open-source license according to The Open Source Definition, because of restrictions on the commercial use of the code.

TNG version StarLogo TNG (The Next Generation) version 1.0 was released in July 2008. It provides a 3D world using OpenGL graphics and a block-based graphical language to increase ease of use and learnability. It is written in C and Java. StarLogo TNG uses blocks to put together puzzle-like pieces. StarLogo TNG reads the blocks in the order that they fit together, and sets the program in the Spaceland view. StarLogo is a primary influence for the Kedama particle system, programmed by Yoshiki Oshima, found in the Etoys educational programming environment and language, which can be viewed as a Logo done originally in Squeak Smalltalk.

Nova version The latest version of StarLogo, StarLogo Nova, was released in beta form in the summer of 2014. StarLogo Nova takes the blocks language and 3D visualization engine of StarLogo TNG and brings them to the web browser. StarLogo Nova's execution engine is built on the Adobe Flash runtime and includes a purpose-built instancing rendering engine, using the Adobe Molehill 3D graphics application programming interface (API), able to render tens of thousands of independently moving agents on current hardware. The programming area is built on ScriptBlocks, a JavaScript-based blocks library. As of 2019, StarLogo Nova under development by the MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program, directed by Eric Klopfer, with lead designer and developer Daniel Wendel. StarLogo Nova introduces several notable design changes relative to TNG, particularly with the introduction of a World agent, reminiscent of StarLogo 2.2's Observer. In StarLogo Nova, any command can be run by any agent, but each breed has its own program and can have its own set of breed-specific traits. This brings StarLogo Nova closer to an object-oriented programming design, in an effort to improve the ease with which students can transfer skills in StarLogo Nova to other, more mainstream languages. Other changes include the use of embedded arguments for blocks (similar to the language Scratch), What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editing of the simulation interface, and splitting the collision primitive into its component halves, with each breed having collision code on its own program page.

See also NetLogo Scratch (programming language) MicroWorlds

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with StarLogo

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what StarLogo claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to StarLogo before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about StarLogo ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of StarLogo

In research: StarLogo appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses StarLogo in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: StarLogo is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Agent-based programming languages, Educational programming languages, Logo programming language family, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for StarLogo outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study StarLogo in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what StarLogo means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain StarLogo out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is StarLogo in simple terms?

Why does StarLogo matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study StarLogo?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on StarLogo.