More on simulation languages and design methodology for computer systems

In an earlier paper we attempted to set forth (1) a design methodology for computer systems which made heavy use of simulation and (2) a simulation language intended to facilitate the use of the design methodology presented. The basic justification for the design methodology presented an old precept from engineering design: a problem must be defined before it is solved. The result was a methodology which laid great stress on specifying the behavior of a system or a component in a system before producing the design. The simulation language, SODAS, was designed to allow a design to proceed in a hierarchical way, treating any system as a set of components, specifying the behavior of those components, then treating the components themselves as systems. By means of the SODAS language it was to be possible to evaluate the design at any stage in its development without excess effort.