DRAFT(ID:8229/)

Simulation language and system
References:
  • Mathews, S. C. "Simulation program generators" Simulation 23, 1974 pp181-189. view details
  • Smith, Graham "A Language for Teaching Discrete-Event Simulation" The Journal of the Operational Research Society 40(09) Sep 1989 pp761-770 view details Extract: Introduction
    Introduction
    There are many types and durations of simulation courses, having different requirements,, which would ideally be served by separate simulation languages. Educational institutions which can maintain the resources (skilled tutors, teaching materials, software, etc.) for several different simulation languages are indeed fortunate. Most must compromise by choosing one simulation language which best meets their needs. The chosen simulation language should provide a diverse range of facilities and must be flexible enough to support different courses which explore topics to different depths. Furthermore, the language should be able to adapt to future developments in the field of simulation and in computing equipment.
    Languages for performing simulation have been properly concerned with modelling extremely complex systems efficiently. These languages are often complex systems themselves and may be difficult to learn. On the other hand, a language for teaching simulation should be concerned more with isolating concepts from one another and with allowing a staged exposure to each major aspect of simulation.
    The characteristics that simulation languages should have in order to facilitate the teaching process are discussed below. It is shown that different topics can be treated separately and a staged exposure within each area can be given. Some aspects of a simulation language (SEESIM) containing these features are described.
    SEESIM is a collection of software which was written:
    to help teach discrete-event simulation to a number of different groups of students;
    to support research into simulation languages; and
    to support the application of simulation in industry.
    It has been used for teaching simulation at The University of New South Wales and elsewhere for several years, and it is the teaching role that is addressed in this paper.
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