Abstract for: 15 Things System Dynamics can Learn from Software Development

While System Dynamics involves a diverse set of issues outside the scope of software development, one of the key outcomes of the System Dynamics process is software artifacts, in the form of simulation models. Many of the principles and concerns of software development more generally apply by extension to the development of System Dynamics models. In recent decades, the software development field has benefited greatly from a series of process-based and technologies to make the production of software artifacts more reliable, more timely, and more predictable. Within this paper, we argue that System Dynamics projects can benefit from adoption of processes and techniques in software development, and discuss some of the adaptations required to take best advantage of such approaches.