Acknowledgements

Along the way, I have got a lot of guidance, support, encouragement and companionship from many people, to whom I am full of gratitude.

Above all, I am very grateful to Prof. Dr. Gregor Engels (at University of Paderborn), for all the dedication and support he has given at every stage of the book. He has significantly contributed to the book with his comprehensive knowledge, penetrating perspectives, and consistent patience. Thanks to his uncountable suggestions, I have the possibility to make the book such a one that I am satisfied with.

Prof. Dr. Reiko Heckel (at University of Leicester) also deserves a great deal of thanks. He has guided me into the research area of software modeling and graph transformation systems, starting from basics and going in deep. I have benefited a lot from his generosity and collaboration. He has given me many good ideas and suggestions. Especially, the main modeling and simulation framework proposed in the book is based on his original idea.

I have also got many useful suggestions and hints from other people. Thanks to Jaakko Kangasharju (University of Helsinki), the designer and developer of Wireless CORBA, for the discussions and suggestions. I would also like to thank the Fujaba team for the support and help. Especially thanks to Leif Geiger for the guides to Dobs, and to Lothar Wendehals for the guides to Fujaba.

I would also like to thank all my friends and neighbors in PHW2A for their companionship. Especially thanks to Elina Hotman, ChengYee Low,Madhura Purnaprajna, Su Zhao and Andreas Ziermann for proofreading of this manuscript.

I deeply thank my family for their support and understanding. My grandfather has taught me to be optimistic even in the darkest and hardest time, to be appreciative to every experience in my life even to tortures and difficulties. My parents have always encouraged me to try new things that I dream of.

Ping Guo

Kunming, November 2016