Waterfall Model Simulation: A Systematic Mapping Study

This paper systematically maps peer-reviewed research and graduate theses/dissertations that explicitly simulate the waterfall model. Following Petersen’s mapping guidelines and Kitchenham’s systematic literature review practices, major databases (ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Springer, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) were searched for studies published between 2000-2024 using the title query (“simulation” OR “simulating”) AND “waterfall”. A PRISMA workflow guided the screening process, and approximately 9% of retrieved records met the inclusion criteria. A repeated extraction process captured methods, tools, venues, geography, publication years, comparative scope, and fidelity to Royce’s original model; findings were synthesized thematically. Discrete-event simulation dominates (80%) compared to system dynamics (20%). Reported tools center on Simphony.NET (40%) and SimPy (20%), while 40% of studies omit tool details, limiting reproducibility. Research is distributed across Italy, Lebanon, India, Japan, and the United States; publication venues include 60% journals and 40% conferences. Sixty percent of studies are comparative, while 40% model only the waterfall approach. No study reproduces Royce’s original model; all employ adaptations. The paper concludes by presenting a consolidated view of waterfall simulation research and recommending clearer model reporting, fuller tool disclosure, and wider adoption of open-source platforms.

💡 Research Summary

The paper presents a systematic mapping study of research that explicitly simulates the classic waterfall software development model. Following the established guidelines of Petersen for systematic mapping and Kitchenham for systematic literature reviews, the authors searched six major bibliographic databases—ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Springer, Google Scholar, and Web of Science—using the title‑only query (“simulation” OR “simulating”) AND “waterfall”. The search was limited to peer‑reviewed journal articles, conference papers, and graduate theses/dissertations published in English between January 1 2000 and December 31 2024. After de‑duplication and a three‑stage PRISMA‑guided screening (title/abstract, full‑text eligibility, and duplicate removal), the initial set of 56 records was narrowed to five unique studies that met all inclusion criteria.

Data extraction was performed with a structured form capturing bibliographic metadata, simulation methodology, software tools, application context, geographic origin of the authors, publication venue, comparative scope, and fidelity to Royce’s original waterfall formulation. The extraction was repeated for all five studies to ensure consistency.

The thematic synthesis reveals that discrete‑event simulation (DES) dominates the field, accounting for 80 % of the selected works, while system dynamics (SD) accounts for the remaining 20 %. This dominance reflects the inherently sequential, event‑driven nature of the waterfall process, which maps naturally onto DES paradigms. The most frequently reported simulation platforms are Simphony.NET (40 % of studies) and SimPy (20 %). Notably, 40 % of the papers do not disclose the tool used, raising serious concerns about reproducibility.

Geographically, research contributions are clustered in Italy, Lebanon, India, Japan, and the United States, suggesting regional academic interest possibly linked to curricula that still emphasize traditional lifecycle models. Publication venues are split between journals (60 %) and conferences (40 %), indicating that waterfall simulation remains a niche topic within software engineering research.

Regarding scope, 60 % of the studies conduct comparative analyses—typically juxtaposing waterfall against agile or hybrid models—while the remaining 40 % focus exclusively on the waterfall process. Importantly, none of the examined works reproduces Royce’s original waterfall model in its pure form; all employ some adaptation, whether by adding feedback loops, splitting phases, or integrating resource constraints. This finding underscores the fluid interpretation of “waterfall” in contemporary research.

The authors acknowledge several limitations: the small sample size (only five studies) limits the generalizability of the findings; the title‑only search strategy may have omitted relevant papers that mention “waterfall” only in abstracts or keywords; and the lack of tool and parameter disclosure hampers replication. To address these gaps, the paper recommends that future researchers (1) provide full source code, model specifications, and parameter sets in open‑source repositories; (2) adopt more transparent reporting standards that explicitly describe the degree of fidelity to the original Royce model; and (3) explore broader methodological approaches, such as hybrid DES‑SD models or agent‑based simulations, to capture both event‑level dynamics and emergent system behavior.

In conclusion, this systematic mapping study offers the first comprehensive overview of waterfall model simulation research, highlighting methodological trends, tool usage, geographic distribution, and gaps in model fidelity and reproducibility. By consolidating scattered evidence, it establishes a baseline for future work aiming to improve the rigor, accessibility, and educational value of waterfall simulations in software engineering.