Microsimulation Model Development Environments

This paper describes some of the results of an analysis of new software technology, which can be used to develop microsimulation models. Searching for microsimulation software development environment, the author concludes that opportunities of contemporary software technology are not exhausted; Web-based application development could provide better software architecture while fulfilling user requirements. The structure of the paper is as follows. The brief introduction defines microsimulation and categorizes the models used. The next sections focus in detail on two major approaches, database-oriented and web-oriented. The subsequent parts of the paper present two solutions for Web services, J2EE and .NET and discuss their respective merits and disadvantages. A sample model, using database-oriented approach with Web-service and final remarks concludes the paper. The major contribution of the paper is the presentation of new technology and its use for microsimulation. The software solutions discussed can be used for other simulation applications and the software architecture could build the basis of more general simulation software development environments.