IFs Modelers
This section of the website is dedicated to those who wish to delve into the inner-workings of the models and sub-models of IFs. While all users will want to know about the function of the models in IFs, as well as will be interested in the forecasted product, this section is dedicated to those who live for stocks and flows, causal diagrams and feedback loops.
One place to begin understanding the structure of the IFs models is to access the help system. This documentation is designed to help you learn about the features of IFs, as well as the internal workings of the models. It provides you with lessons that help you work through display features of IFs, block diagrams describing the structure of IFs as well as computer code.
If you would like to learn more about the features of IFs, you may want to walk through the help features and lessons discussed in our Users section of this website.
To begin learning about the structure of IFs, firstly open the help system. The first book, titled What is International Futures (IFs)? provides you with a variety of topics that begin to outline the history, structure and function of IFs.
After your introduction to IFs is complete, continue on through the help system and open the book titled Understanding the Model: Opening the Black Box. This book provides detailed descriptions of all of the sub-models within IFs. Each sub-model is introduced, described with the dominant relations and structure being highlighted. Then, you are given access to the various equations and flow charts that comprise the underlying formulation of each of these sub-models. Look for the book titled Model Code for access to all of the code that was used to create these sub-models.