The psychology of computer programming
The psychology of computer programming
An experimental model of system/360
Communications of the ACM
A SIMSCRIPT-FORTRAN case study
Communications of the ACM
Computer simulation—discussion of the technique and comparison of languages
Communications of the ACM
System Simulation
ECSS - an Extendable Computer System Simulator
Proceedings of the third conference on Applications of simulation
Job shop scheduling simulations for interactive use in computer graphics
Proceedings of the fourth annual conference on Applications of simulation
Experience with the extendable computer system simulator
Proceedings of the fourth annual conference on Applications of simulation
An introduction to the simulation of a multiple CPU military communications system
ANSS '76 Proceedings of the 4th symposium on Simulation of computer systems
A Computer Resource Allocation Model with Some Measured and Simulation Results
IEEE Transactions on Computers
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A recent experiment at Rand has provided quantitative data on the effect of using different languages for simulating computer systems. The experiment consisted of programming a small simulation of a hypothetical multiprogrammed computer in ECSS (the Extendable Computer System Simulator), a new experimental language specifically oriented toward simulating computer systems, and recording in detail the progress of program development. The purpose of the experiment was to determine to what extent the prototype version of ECSS could reduce the time and expense of such simulation projects. This paper reviews the major elements of ECSS, describes the experimental procedure, and outlines the key features of the ECSS program produced. The results of using ECSS are then compared to the results using FORTRAN and PL/I for the same task. A factor of three reduction in programming time and a factor of two reduction in machine time for model development using ECSS were obtained, but the number of statements required was not significantly reduced, more errors were made, and object program size was much larger for the ECSS version. Although suggestive, a number of experimental difficulties were found to limit the generality of the results. The paper concludes with a discussion of how these results have affected ECSS development, some suggestions for others attempting to evaluate languages for computer system simulation, and an assessment of the hazards and rewards of this empirical evaluation method.