Henrik Nilsson
School of Computer Science and IT, University of Nottingham, UK
John Peterson
Math and Computer Information Science Department, Western State College, USA
Paul Hudak
Department of Computer Science, Yale University, USA
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Published in: Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Equation-Based Object-Oriented Languages and Tools
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 24:7, p. 71–87
Published: 2007-07-18
ISBN: 978-91-7519-822-4
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
The modeling and simulation of physical systems is of key importance in many areas of science and engineering; and thus can benefit from high-quality software tools. In previous research we have demonstrated how functional programming can form the basis of an expressive language for causal hybrid modeling and simulation. There is a growing realization; however; that a move toward non-causal modeling is necessary for coping with the ever increasing size and complexity of modeling problems. Our goal is to combine the strengths of functional program ming and non-causal modeling to create a powerful; strongly typed fully declarative modeling language that provides modeling and simulation capabilities beyond the current state of the art: in particular; support for highly structurally dynamic systems. Additionally; we think our approach could serve as a semantical framework for studying modeling and simulation languages supporting structural dynamism; and maybe even as a core language in systems where the surface syntax is more conven tional. Although our work is still in its very early stages; we believe that this paper clearly articulates the need for improved modeling languages and shows how functional programming techniques can play a pivotal role in meeting this need.
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