A summary of basic simulation concepts discussed in the GoldSim Tutorial is provided below:
• Simulation is the process of creating a model of an existing or proposed system in order to identify and understand the factors that control the system, or to predict the future behavior of the system.
• In a static simulation, the system model does not change with time.
• In a dynamic simulation, the system model changes and evolves with time.
• Deterministic simulation often represents "the best guess" or "worst case" input values.
• Probabilistic simulation represents uncertainty by specifying some inputs as probability distributions.
• Simulation is a powerful and important tool because it provides a way in which alternative designs, plans and/or policies can be evaluated without having to experiment on a real system.