Petri net

mathematical representation of discrete distributed systems. Petri nets were defined in the 1960s by Carl Adam Petri. Because of their ability to express concurrent events, they generalize automata theory.

A Petri net consists of places, transitions and directed arcs. Arcs connect a place to a transition and vice versa. There are no arcs between two places, nor between two transitions. Places may contain any number of tokens. Transitions fire, that is consume tokens from input positions and produce tokens in output positions. A transition is enabled if there are tokens in every input position.

In its most basic form, tokens in a Petri net are indistinguishable from each other. More complex Petri nets add token coloring, activation time and hierarchy to the network.

Application areas

• Software design
• Workflow management
• Data analysis
• Concurrent programming

Programming tools

1. ARP
2. CoopnTools
3. CPN-AMI
4. CPN Tools
5. CPN ML
6. DPNSchematic
7. HiQPN-Tool
8. HPSim
9. Integrated Net Analyzer
10. JARP
11. JFern
12. JPetriNet
13. Maria
14. Marigold
15. Model-Checking Kit
16. NEPTUN
17. PED
18. PEP
19. PetriEdiSim
20. Platform Independent Petri Net Editor
21. Petrigen
22. PetriSim
23. Petri Net Browser
24. Petri Net Kernel
25. Petri Net Simulator
26. PNES
27. PNSim
28. PNtalk
29. Poseidon
30. Poses++
31. Predator
32. PROD
33. Renew
34. SEA
35. SimPRES
36. SIPN-Editor
37. SimulaWorks
38. StpnPlay
39. Tina
40. Visual Object Net ++
41. WebSPN
42. WINSIM
43. Woflan
44. XPetri
45. XRL

See also

• Finite state machine

References

• Mengchu Zhou,