This three-volume work presents a coherent description of the theoretical and practical aspects of coloured Petri nets. These CP-nets are shown to be a full-fledged language for the design, specification, simulation, validation and implementation of large software systems.The introductory first volume contains the formal definition of CP-nets and the mathematical theory behind their analysis methods. It gives a detailed presentation of many small examples and a brief overview of some industrial applications. The purpose of the book is to teach the reader how to construct CP-net models and analyse them by means of simulation. The book is also attractive to readers who are more interested in applications than in the underlying mathematics.