A case study of model context for simulation composability and reusability

How much effort will be required to compose or reuse simulations? What factors need to be considered? It is generally known that composability and reusability are daunting challenges for both simulations and more broadly software design as a whole. We have conducted a small case study in order to clarify the role that model context plays in simulation composability and reusability. For a simple problem: compute the position and velocity of a falling body, we found that a reasonable formulation of a solution included a surprising number of implicit constraints. Equally surprising, in a challenge posed to a small group of capable individuals, no one of them was able to identify more than three-quarters of the ultimate set of validation constraints. We document the challenge, interpret its results, and discuss the utility our study will have in future investigations into simulation composition and reuse.