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Reviewer: Mauro Pezze

Colored Petri nets (CPNs) are probably the most used high-level Petri net model. This book is well focused, complete, self-contained, easy to read, of a perfect length, and never tedious despite the topic. It should be on the shelves of all computer scientists and software engineers, be they practitioners or theoreticians. The book can be understood with a standard mathematical background. CPNs can be studied without previous knowledge of Petri nets, but some basics of Petri nets would help the reader appreciate the power of CPN models and understand the book. The interested reader can find a good guide to books on Petri nets in the bibliographical remarks included in chapter 1. CPNs are presented incrementally: the basic model (chapters 1 and 2), hierarchical CPNs (chapter 3), properties and analysis (chapters 4 and 5), and tools and industrial applications (chapters 6 and 7). Chapter 1 gives a quick overview of place/transition nets, before informally describing colored Petri nets. CPNs are illustrated through a few useful examples. Chapter 2 completes the presentation of CPNs by presenting their formal definition. The choice of first presenting CPNs and then their hierarchical extensions, as well as the careful discussions, make the presentation clear and interesting even for practitioners, despite the mathematical details. Chapter 3 introduces hierarchical CPNs. It starts with an informal description, which is well supported by examples, and ends with formal definitions, which are clear and well discussed. Chapter 4 discusses the properties of CPNs. Each property is described first informally with adequate examples and then formally, with the usual clarity. Chapter 5 presents the occurrence graph, shows how to use it to prove properties, and illustrates reduction techniques that can reduce the size of the occurrence graph, such as symmetry, stubborn sets, and invariants. Chapter 5 is only a first look at the complex world of formal analysis of CPNs. The topic is further addressed in a second volume by the same author [1]. Chapter 6 discusses tools for supporting CPNs. It tends to overemphasize obvious functionalities and underestimate the general background derived by the common use of graphical tools; this results in the least exciting chapter of the book. Chapter 7 is an excellent presentation of examples of industrial size, which can satisfy practitioners interested in the possible impact of CPNs on industrial-scale examples, as well as theoreticians interested in the practical implications of the theory. The preface mentions a third volume for a deeper discussion of industrial-scale examples; unfortunately, I have not seen this volume. Each chapter concludes with an excellent overview of the related literature and a set of exercises that can be helpful for students. This is definitely the best book for courses on colored Petri nets. The independence of the chapters makes the book suitable for different audiences, from a practical-minded audience that can look at chapter 1, the first two sections of chapter 3, and chapters 6 and 7, to a theoretically-minded audience that can enjoy the excellent discussion of the formal details.