Characteristics of the GLIDER Simulation Language

GLIDER is a language for simulation of both continuous and discrete systems. The system to be simulated is seen as a set of subsystems, that exchange information in different ways. The subsystems can store, transform, transmit, create, and eliminate information. GLIDER has the following features to represent systems and information processes:

• Subsystems are represented by nodes of a network. Nodes may be of different types according to their functions.
• Information transformation is described and performed by program code associated to each node.
• Information exchange among nodes is done by the action of the code on shared variables or files, and also by passing messages from a node to other.
• Information is stored in variables, files or in lists of received messages in the nodes.

The GLIDER Language definition includes declaration and instruction contructs taken from Pascal [] and Turbo Pascal [] extension from Borland . Also GLIDER allows for use of a subset of the Turbo Pascal Run-Time Library.

Turbo Pascal features add the power of a general purpose language to the modeling and simulation power of GLIDER. Two simple examples follow to give a general idea how GLIDER programs look like.

• Example of discrete simulation
• Example of continuous simulation