Re: [boost] Is there interest in a Simulation library?

Subject: Re: [boost] Is there interest in a Simulation library?
From: Niall Douglas (s_sourceforge_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-09-26 18:34:03

On 27 Sep 2013 at 0:27, Klaim - Joël Lamotte wrote:

> > Can you tell us more about what you mean by Simulation library ? It's a
> > broad concept.
> 
> My expectation is that:
>  1. you have some data representing the state of the simulation;
>  2. you have a set of rules that have to be applied on each cycle of the
> simulation; (each cycle might correspond to a time frame but it's important
> that it's "fixed");
>  3. you have some set of events that needs to be triggered (maybe by the
> rules?);
>  4. the library take all that in, then provide a function to iterate to the
> next cycle;
>  5. each cycle is double buffered (or something similar) that is:
>     a. the library first keep a read-only copy of the state of the last
> cycle and the state of the next cycle;
>     b. the rules are applied using the read-only last cycle state to modify
> the state of the next cycle;
>     c. meanwhile, events are collected;
>     d. once the cycle is complete, the events are dispatched or provided as
> a set to the user code;
>     e. the events will also be used by the rules on the next cycle, which
> makes it a simulation;
> 
> If it's not what the library is about, then I'll need some clarifications.
> :)

If it is this, then this is a very common design pattern in my 
testing code. I would have a suspicion that such a library wouldn't 
offer enough advantages that would cause me to replace my bespoke 
testing code with it, but if it is (a) highly multithreadable (b) 
highly scalable (iii) highly configurable, I might just be persuaded. 
I'd certainly like to learn more.

Niall

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