Domain-specific synthesis of simulation models

The formal specification community has produced many languages but few structured design methods. Those which exist tend to be abstract, providing little guidance in tackling problems in particular domains. One way of devising domain-specific design methods is by reconstructing an example in the domain using the target method; then generalising the design structures to cover a class of designs in the domain; then building an environment in which these structures can more easily be re-applied to new problems. We demonstrate this approach using animal population dynamics models as the domain and Prolog techniques as the target method.