The Discrete Event Simulation Framework DESMO-J: Review, Comparison To Other Frameworks And Latest Development

This review paper focusses on DESMO-J, a comprehensive and stable Java-based open-source simulation library. DESMO-J is recommended in numerous academic publications for implementing discrete event simulation models for various applications. The library was integrated into several commercial software products. DESMO-J’s functional range and usability is continuously improved by the Department of Informatics of the University of Hamburg (Germany). The paper summarizes DESMO-J’s core functionality and important design decisions. It also compares DESMO-J to other discrete event simulation frameworks. Furthermore, latest developments and new opportunities are addressed in more detail. These include a) improvements relating to the quality and applicability of the software itself, e.g. a port to .NET, b) optional extension packages like visualization libraries and c) new components facilitating a more powerful and flexible simulation logic, like adaption to real time or a compact representation of production chains and similar queuing systems. Finally, the paper exemplarily describes how to apply DESMO-J to harbor logistics and business process modeling, thus providing insights into DESMO-J practice.