| Summary: | This thesis presents a technique for producing visual simulations — programs that
visualize the execution or behavior of time-varying scenes — from software interactions,
first-class structures that moderate the flow of information among software components:
The building of programs with software interactions gives rise to Interaction-Based Programming
(IBP), a programming methodology that separates the concerns of computation
from coordination. Software components compute independently, while software interactions
coordinate communications. The integration of IBP with the methods of computer
simulation produce Interaction-Based Simulation (IBS), an approach to visual simulation
that binds the execution of software interactions to the advancement of time. As tiihe advances,
software interactions control the flow of information among components arid the
dissemination of temporal information.
The utility of IBS is presented in two ways: one, through a logical description of
the effect of software interactions on software development and systems created using the
approach; and two, through empirical evidence demonstrating the ability of IBS to produce
a wide variety of programs that encourage the reuse of software.
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