The development of an object-oriented, discrete-event simulation language using Java

Simulation modelling is an ideal domain for the application of object-oriented methods, both in the modelling of problem domain entities and in the implementation of simulators. The paper describes a prototype development of an object-oriented animated, general purpose discrete-event simulation language which builds on the well established entity modelling notations of JSD and harnesses the object-oriented features provided by Java to produce a high-level graphically defined simulation language providing customisable animations in a platform-independent way. Simple situations can be modelled quickly and simply, without the need for programming, whilst the provision of a programmatic API, coupled with the ability to extend the pre-defined entity class with the addition of Java methods permits a flexible approach to handling more complex systems. In addition to performance evaluation simulations the provision of user interaction through customisable control panels allows the simulator to be used in a gaming or training mode