When it comes to discovering glitches inherent in complex systems--be it a railway or banking, chemical production, medical, manufacturing, or inventory control system--developing a simulation of a system can identify problems with less time, effort, and disruption than it would take to employ the original. Advantageous to both academic and industrial practitioners, Discrete and Continuous Simulation: Theory and Practice offers a detailed view of simulation that is useful in several fields of study.

This text concentrates on the simulation of complex systems, covering the basics in detail and exploring the diverse aspects, including continuous event simulation and optimization with simulation. It explores the connections between discrete and continuous simulation, and applies a specific focus to simulation in the supply chain and manufacturing field. It discusses the Monte Carlo simulation, which is the basic and traditional form of simulation. It addresses future trends and technologies for simulation, with particular emphasis given to .NET technologies and cloud computing, and proposes various simulation optimization algorithms from existing literature.

• Includes chapters on input modeling and hybrid simulation
• Introduces general probability theory
• Contains a chapter on Microsoft® Excel(tm) and MATLAB®/Simulink®
• Discusses various probability distributions required for simulation
• Describes essential random number generators

Discrete and Continuous Simulation: Theory and Practice defines the simulation of complex systems. This text benefits academic researchers in industrial/manufacturing/systems engineering, computer sciences, operations research, and researchers in transportation, operations management, healthcare systems, and human-machine systems.