Prerequisites

Knowledge

Programming in Java

Because DESMO-J is a Java-based framework you need to have a firm grasp of the principles of object-oriented programming (OOP) in general and the Java programming language in particular. Obviously, covering these topics is beyond the scope of this tutorial.

If you don't already have extensive knowledge of Java and OOP you may refer to Orcale's Java Tutorial or your book of choice about the Java programming language.

Discrete-event Simulation

As you might recall, the acronym "DESMO-J" stands for "Discrete-Event Simulation and Modelling in Java". You should be familiar with the basic concepts in discrete-event simulation, especially with its two major modelling styles (event scheduling and process interaction), to be able to use DESMO-J and understand this tutorial. Otherwise, you may need to learn more about this topic by by reading one or more of the following books (or any other book covering discrete-event simulation):

• Jerry Banks, John S. Carson, Barry L. Nelson: Discrete-event Systems Simulation. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall, 1999
• Les Oakshott: Business Modelling and Simulation. London, Pitman, 1997
• Bernd Page: Diskrete Simulation -- Eine Einführung mit Modula-2. Berlin, Springer, 1991 (in German)
• Bernd Page, Tim Lechler, Sönke Claassen: Objektorientierte Simulation in Java mit dem Framework DESMO-J. Libri Books on demand, 2000 (in German)

In addition, there is a vast amount of information available online. We can only provide you with some pointers you may find useful:

• A comprehensive list of material on statistics, systems simulation and optimisation, maintained by Prof. Dr. Hossein Arsham at the University of Baltimore
• Another comprehensive list of links, this time focussing on parallel simulation, maintained by Dr. Fabian Gomes at the University of Calgary