HSMA: Little Book of Discrete Event Simulation (DES)

Summary

The Little Book of Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is a free eBook written to accompany the DES module of the Health Service Modelling Associates (HSMA) programme. DES is a technique used for building simulations of pathways and services, allowing ‘what-if’ questions to be tested. The book takes you from being a complete beginner in DES through to creating complex models with a web interface. This Python resource primarily focusses on the SimPy package, also touching on Streamlit and various supporting packages.

Rating: Gold

Most content is based on a module written by an experienced team of academics with over a decade in the operational research and data science space, with input from an ex-NHS data scientist. Additional content has been tested and reviewed, and the book is actively maintained and added to.

Atlas Entry authored by: | Sammi Rosser (Link) |

The Little Book of DES is a free eBook written to accompany the Discrete Event Simulation (DES) module of the Health Service Modelling Associates (HSMA) programme.

The book takes you from being a complete beginner in discrete event simulation through to creating complex models with a web interface, all using free packages in Python.

Primarily focussing on the SimPy package, the book begins with the concepts underpinning DES before moving on to advanced topics including:

model testing
ensuring reproducibility
variable arrival rates
parameterising your model from real-world data
working with multiple patient/entity types

and much more!

View the book

To view the book, click on the image above or go to https://des.hsma.co.uk.

Tip

Brand new to Python? Consider starting with the HSMA book of Python first:

https://python.hsma.co.uk