FPDEVSML: A platform-independent parallel-DEVS specification language

As discrete-event systems grow in complexity across domains such as manufacturing, communication, and cyber-physical systems, their modeling and simulation face increasing challenges. Key issues include model reusability, interoperability across heterogeneous simulation platforms, and maintaining consistency of execution semantics. Traditional approaches often rely on simulators bound to specific programming languages, which restricts portability and hinders collaboration across different tools. To overcome these limitations, this paper introduces FPDEVSML, a formal specification language for parallel-DEVS (PDEVS) models. FPDEVSML provides a structured and unambiguous framework for defining system behavior independently of any particular simulator. This language is based on formal foundations in mathematical logic, algebra, and set theory that ensure only well-formed models can be expressed and validated. From a given specification, models are automatically parsed, semantically analyzed, and transformed into a platform-independent representation, which is then used to generate executable code for multiple simulation environments following model-driven engineering (MDE) approach. We demonstrate this approach through the ft4devs (Formal Tool for DEVS) framework, which we developed, providing code generation for both Artis*/C++ and PyPDEVS/Python. Case studies highlight the FPDEVSML language’s expressiveness in modeling parallel and modular systems. The results confirm the feasibility of the approach, bridging the gap between formal modeling and practical simulation for PDEVS modeling formalism, and paving the way for future automatic integration with formal verification.