electromagnetic simulation using the fdtd method by dennis m sullivan

Hi i was wondering if anybody had worked through any of the problems in this as i am currently stuck on chapter 2 i can not get any of the programs running and am getting a bit lost with what is needed in order to complete the programs, if anybody has any advice or help much appreciated..

Nobody I know got Sullivan's programs running without extra work. I gave up on the code somewhere in the first chapters and started writing my own code.
There is actually a Japanese textbook (Uno) which is quite reliable (Fortran code and if I remember correctly only one easily corrected error in the PML code).

As for English textbooks I think that Taflove's code is ok, but supposedly (I have not read it) Elsherbeni is easier to use.

Looking back at my own road to FDTD I would suggest you first write the programs in a high-level language
(something like python) you feel comfortable with. Later you can switch to C/Fortran or whatever 'fast' language you like.

Copying from a book is faster at first but if you want to become semi-competent at FDTD I would suggest that once you
understand the basic update equations you try to write the code yourself.

You will learn things like
- how do you deal with boundary conditions at the corners (which is rarely properly explained)
- understand how to use permutation of variables to intelligently transform the Ex update to Ey and Ez
- debugging (it is very important to learn that while your algorithms are simpler)

A last word of advice: do not worry about the slow progress at first if you try to do it the hard way.
I believe there are enough people here which could (and would be willing to) help you if your own code
does not work once you post the 'problematic parts' here

Thank you for your reply i have actually made significant progress with this method now, i used the book only as refrence and started to work using matlab due to it's good visualisation tools and my general understanding of matlab was much better.
I also agree working at generating your own code is a good idea as my general understanding of this method has improved greatly, and a bit of algebra manipulation always helps me get into it aswell. my programs are comming along nicely.
if i need any help in the future i will be sure to ask
Many thanks for your reply

I tend to check for posts in irregular intervals (usually at least once a week but sometimes only once a month). I will try to reply but you might have to wait for a bit.
You are welcome.