A Functional/Declarative Dichotomy for Characterizing Simulation Models

Abstract

Traditional computer simulation terminology includes taxonomic divisions with terms such as “discrete event,” “continuous,” and ‘$‘process oriented.” Even though such terms have become familiar to simulation researchers, the terminology is distinct from other disciplines -such as artificial intelligence and software enganeering- which have similar goals to our own relating specifically to modelling dynamic systems. We present a perspective that serves to characterize simulation models in terms of their procedural versus declarative orientations. In teaching simulation students using this perspective, we have had success in relating the field of modelling within computer simulation to other sub-disciplines within computer science.