  Classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations provide insight on the
properties of many soft-matter systems. In some situations it is interesting to
model the creation of chemical bonds, a process that is not part of the MD
framework. In this context, we propose a parallel algorithm for step- and
chain-growth polymerization that is based on a generic reaction scheme, works
at a given intrinsic rate and produces continuous trajectories. We present an
implementation in the ESPResSo++ simulation software and compare it with the
corresponding feature in LAMMPS. For chain growth, our results are compared to
the existing simulation literature. For step growth, a rate equation is
proposed for the evolution of the crosslinker population that compares well to
the simulations for low crosslinker functionality or for short times.
