Dataflow Simulation Programming

Julia could support a dataflow simulation programming environment similar to Simulink.

Initial Design Goals

• Support diff/merge

This is something that Simulink has problems with. While Simulink models are text files, merging them without expensive third-party tools is a practical impossibility.

• Make parallel simulation (Monte Carlo techniques) easy

• Everything is Julia code

You should be able to select any block and View Source.

• No Julia code is off-limits

Corollary to "Everything is Julia": the framework should not subset the Julia language.

Initial Design Non-Goals

• Provide for graphical discrete-event simulation like Arena

This is a worthy goal, but should be a separate effort. The ability to mutually embed different types of simulations to build hybrid event/dynamic simulations would be nice to have, though.

References

• Simulink — technical dataflow language with modeling, simulation, and control systems emphasis
• LabView — technical dataflow language with instrumentation/control emphasis
• Bloom — dataflow programming for distributed systems