A Java Simulator for Membrane Computing

Abstract

Membrane Computing is a recent area of Natural Computing, a topic where much work has been done but still much remains to be done. There are some applica tions which have been developed in imperative languages, like C++, or in declaratives languages, as Prolog, working in the framework of P systems. In this paper, a software tool (called SimCM, from Spanish Simulador de Computaci´on con Membranas) for handling P systems is presented. The program can simulate basic transition P Systems where dissolution of membranes and priority rules are allowed. The software applica tion is carried out in an imperative and object-oriented language – Java. We choose Java because it is a scalable and distributed language. Working with Java is the first step to cross the border between simulations and a distributed implementation able to capture the parallelism existing in the membrane computing area. This tool is a friendly application which allows us to follow the evolution of a P system easily and in a visual way. The program can be used to move the P system theory closer to the biologist and all the people who wants to learn and understand how this model works.