The ROSS Language Manual

David J. McArthur, Philip Klahr, Sanjai Narain

Published 1985

This Note summarizes the commands of the ROSS language. ROSS is an object-oriented programming language developed at RAND. The goal of ROSS is to provide a programming environment in which users can conveniently design, test, and change large knowledge-based simulations of complex mechanisms. Object-oriented programming languages, and ROSS in particular, enforce a "message-passing" style of programming in which the system to be modeled is represented as a set of actors and their behaviors (rules for actor interaction). This style is especially suited to simulation, since the mechanism or process to be simulated may have a part-whole decomposition that maps naturally onto actors. The first section of this Note gives an overall view of the language and the philosophy behind object-oriented programming. The next eleven sections give detailed descriptions of the basic commands or behaviors of the language. The final two sections give advice on how to write English-like code in ROSS and how to optimize code, once debugged.

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

McArthur, David J., Philip Klahr, and Sanjai Narain, The ROSS Language Manual. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1985. https://www.rand.org/pubs/notes/N1854-1.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND note series. The note was a product of RAND from 1979 to 1993 that reported miscellaneous outputs of sponsored research for general distribution.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.