System Dynamics Software.

Comparison of Commercial System Dynamics Software

In the 21st century there is an ever increasing interest in finding solutions to the various environmental , social and economic problems that plague the planet . One of the obvious answers is to formulate and implement effective policies . But a certain policy decision cannot be simply created out of the blue this must be backed up by long-term studies , extensive research , experiments , etc . Aside from that there is also a need for an interdisciplinary approach especially when it comes to understanding complex ecological systems . This simply means

that a group can easily be bogged down by information overload . Thus , for the past few decades computer software engineers , mathematicians , and other scientists are pooling their talents together in to build dynamic systems-based software that will be able to accomplish what is humanly impossible . The following pages will describe some of the best systems thinking software available in the market

STELLA

One of the most popular systems modeling software available today is the STELLA . It uses an iconographic interface to facilitate construction of dynamic systems structures (Costanza Gottlieb , 1998 . This means that when constructing models , users have access to cartoon-like icons making work seems like child 's play (Rizzo et al , 2006 . STELLA is a modeler that uses three basic descriptors : stock , which represents quantities or amounts of an entity a flow , which represents change (flow into or flow out of ) a stock and connector which indicates a relationship (connection ) between a stock and a flow (Taffe , 1991 . The great thing about STELLA is that these three descriptors are represented by icons so it is easy for mathematically less sophisticated students to use the software (Taffe , 1991

While STELLA is easy to use it is not so impressive when it comes to computational power . For very demanding clients they find STELLA to be somewhat limited , .when interacting with external data sets and equations (Rizzo et al , 2006 . One way of solving this problem according to Ruth , Hannon , and Forrester is to use STELLA in conjunction with other dynamic systems software with higher computational capabilities . STELLA runs on both Windows and Macintosh platforms

SIMULINK

Simulink is a block diagram visual modeling tool that is integrated with MATLAB . But unlike the older versions of MATLAB that can only be used by writing lines of code , Simulink uses an icon based user interface that enables a conceptual diagram of the modeled system (Rizzo et al . 2006 . Simulink is a language-based program making it more powerful but increases the learning curve for first time users . It is also difficult to use it without prior knowledge about computer programming languages . Simulik runs on both Windows and Macintosh platforms

BERKELEY MADONNA

This system modeling software was developed in the Berkeley campus hence the name , Berkeley Madonna . It is one of the fastest , general purpose differential equation solver available in the market today Although it is hard to beat the user-friendly features of STELLA Madonna can be used to complement the aforementioned...