There are primarily two different connotations of the term self organization. The first pertains to the way that a system found in nature or in any natural state organizes itself. If there is no central authority or mediator involved, and the state is able to organize itself into patterns of production at a localized level, then self organization has been achieved. Perhaps the best example of this fact is found in the way a flock of birds create a singular formation when they take to the sky. There is no central authority, yet simply from the interactions between the birds that are closest to one another the entire mass moves in a uniform pattern.The second denotation for the term self organization pertains to computer systems, programming languages, and the computerized models upon which those models are based. With this dimension of self organization the computer provides a state or a system which is able to organize itself as the result of numerous individual interactions at a parochial level. It is able to create organized patterns with varying degrees of efficiency simply via those interactions, which results in the manifestation of self organization. This notion is extremely similar to that found in nature and the aforementioned examples with the birds.

However, the application is where the two dimensions differ. In the latter one, such self organization can inform the model for the performance of a specific task which is an integral aspect of a particular computer system. When using a computer language and modeling system such as NetLogo, for example, once can manipulate different forms of self-organization for the most advantageous means of accomplishing such a task. NetLogo provides one of the ideal ‘settings’ or programming languages to accomplish this objective. The primary reason it is suitable in this regard is because it encompasses some of the aspects of the growing self-service...

Specifically, it provides visual mechanisms for aspects of data discovery. Most of all, it enables users to modify these visual facets to write various aspects of code. The writing of code is typically the most time-consuming, manual aspect of computing programming and information technology in general. Thus, the fact that NetLogo users can manipulate the image sand buttons they see in order to automatically generate code is a point of value to organizations and IT departments alike.
The basis of the NetLogo approach is the clustering paradigm which has persisted for data modeling for quite some time. Clustering, simply seeing large amounts of data in a particular region of the screen, provides an intuitive visual means to garner insights which might not be readily available in conventional tabular, numerical, or columnar format. Moreover, the core clustering mechanisms within NetLogo are well aligned with the basic precepts for self organization. In this respect, NetLogo elucidates the way self-organization could actually occur in nature, and presents a viable model for effecting it within computer systems as well.

Using NetLogo, agents traverse the screen in search of any arbitrary goal. The more they walk across a particular route, the more popular it becomes. Agents attract one another and begin to cluster taking different routes to the goal. Because of how they attract one another, they are able to significantly cluster in some areas of the screen, resulting in the manifestation of self organization.

The foregoing screen is actually an interface tab which the user directly interacts with it. However, that tab correlates to the code tab where code is generated and actually required to program NetLogo. In particular, Netlogo’s user interface consists of buttons for setup and go which, when depressed by the user, correspond to code for various…