Simulation with DEVS-CLOS (abstract)

Abstract

This tutorial has two purposes: to show how the features of CLOS affect a design and to describe the design of a general-purpose simulation system. The tutorial is designed for those who want to understand the practical importance of the unique features of CLOS and also those who would like to learn how to use or build object-oriented simulation systems. The tutorial emphasizes the underlying model of object-oriented programming in CLOS and distinguishes it from other models. It also describes the requirements of a simulation system and the design of DEVS-CLOS, a publicly available simulation system. DEVS-CLOS is an extension to CLOS that supports modeling and simulation. It supports visualization, supports hierarchical design of simulations, allows first-order logic in models, and supports adaptive system simulation. The tutorial shows how a system like DEVS-CLOS can be used to solve typical simulation problems, and how CLOS concepts like multimethods, multiple inheritance, pre- and post-methods and dispatching algorithms were used in the design of DEVS-CLOS.