A Petri net (also known as a place/transition net or P/T net) is one of several mathematical modeling languages for the description of distributed systems. A Petri net is a directed bipartite graph, in which the nodes represent transitions (i.e. events that may occur, signified by bars) and places (i.e. conditions, signified by circles). The directed arcs describe which places are pre- and/or postconditions for which transitions (signified by arrows) occurs. Some sources state that Petri nets were invented in August 1939 by Carl Adam Petri — at the age of 13 — for the purpose of describing chemical processes.
Like industry standards such as UML activity diagrams, BPMN and EPCs, Petri nets offer a graphical notation for stepwise processes that include choice, iteration, and concurrent execution. Unlike these standards, Petri nets have an exact mathematical definition of their execution semantics, with a well-developed mathematical theory for process analysis.
Read more about Petri Net: Petri Net Basics, Formal Definition and Basic Terminology, Variations On The Definition, Formulation in Terms of Vectors and Matrices, Mathematical Properties of Petri Nets, Discrete, Continuous, and Hybrid Petri Nets, Extensions, Restrictions, Other Models of Concurrency, Application Areas
Famous quotes containing the word net:
“You have been trapped in the inescapable net of ruin by your own want of sense.”
—Aeschylus (525–456 B.C.)