CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Simulation has made possible systems that would otherwise be impracticable. The sophisticated controls in modern aircraft and automobiles, the powerful microprocessors in desktop computers, and space-faring robots are possible because simulations reduce substantially the need for expensive prototypes. These complicated systems are designed with the aid of sophisticated simulators, and the simulation software itself has therefore become a major part of most engineering efforts. A project’s success may hinge on the construction of affordable, reliable simulators.
Good software engineering practices and a serviceable software architecture are essential to building software for any purpose, and simulators are no exception. The cost of a simulator is determined less by the technical intricacy of its subject than by factors common to all software: the clarity and completeness of requirements, the design and development processes that control complexity, effective testing and maintenance, and the ability to adapt to changing needs. Small software projects that lack any of these attributes are expensive at best, and the absence of some or all of these points is endemic to projects that fail.1
It is nonetheless common for the design of a complicated simulator to be driven almost exclusively by consideration of the objects being simulated. The project begins with a problem that is carefully circumscribed: for example, to calculate the time-varying voltages and currents ...
