Distributed operating systems have many aspects in common with centralized ones, but they also differ in certain ways This paper is intended as an introduction to distributed operating systems, and especially to current university research about them After a discussion of what constitutes a distributed operating system and how it is distinguished from a computer network, various key design issues are discussed Then several examples of current research projects are examined in some detail, namely, the Cambridge Distributed Computing System, Amoeba, V, and Eden

https://cds.cern.ch/record/400319/files/p101.pdf

Distributed Operating Systems

Much has been learned in the last decade about concurrent programming. This paper identifies the major concepts and describes some of the more important language notations for writing concurrent programs. The roles of processes, communication and syhchronization are discussed from both an operational and an axiomatic viewpoint. Language notations for expressing concurrent execution and for specifying process interaction are surveyed. Synchronization primitives based on shared variables and on message passing are described. Finally, three general classes of concurrent programming languages are identified and compared.

/pdf/concepts-and-notations-for-concurrent-programming-22haa9z7dm.pdf

Concepts and Notations for Concurrent Programming

When distributed systems first appeared, they were programmed in traditional sequential languages, usually with the addition of a few library procedures for sending and receiving messages. As distributed applications became more commonplace and more sophisticated, this ad hoc approach became less satisfactory. Researchers all over the world began designing new programming languages specifically for implementing distributed applications. These languages and their history, their underlying principles, their design, and their use are the subject of this paper.We begin by giving our view of what a distributed system is, illustrating with examples to avoid confusion on this important and controversial point. We then describe the three main characteristics that distinguish distributed programming languages from traditional sequential languages, namely, how they deal with parallelism, communication, and partial failures. Finally, we discuss 15 representative distributed languages to give the flavor of each. These examples include languages based on message passing, rendezvous, remote procedure call, objects, and atomic transactions, as well as functional languages, logic languages, and distributed data structure languages. The paper concludes with a comprehensive bibliography listing over 200 papers on nearly 100 distributed programming languages.

/pdf/programming-languages-for-distributed-computing-systems-swl2r5wnf8.pdf

Programming languages for distributed computing systems

Accent is a communication oriented operating system kernel being built at Carnegie-Mellon University to support the distributed personal computing project, Spice, and the development of a fault-tolerant distributed sensor network (DSN). Accent is built around a single, powerful abstraction of communication between processes, with all kernel functions, such as device access and virtual memory management accessible through messages and distributable throughout a network. In this paper, specific attention is given to system supplied facilities which support transparent network access and fault-tolerant behavior. Many of these facilities are already being provided under a modified version of VAX/UNIX. The Accent system itself is currently being implemented on the Three Rivers Corp. PERQ.

Accent: A communication oriented network operating system kernel

Interest is increasing in the transformational approach to programming and in mechanical aids for supporting the program development process. Available aids range from simple editorlike devices to rather powerful interactive transformation systems and even to automatic synthesis tools. This paper reviews and classifies transformation systems and is intended to acquaint the reader with the current state of the art and provide a basis for comparing the different approaches. It is also designed to provide easy access to specific details of the various methodologies.

Program Transformation Systems

The use of several levels of abstraction has proved to be very helpful in constructing and maintaining programs. When programs are designed with abstract data types such as sets and lists, programmer time can be saved by automating the process of filling in low-level implementation details. In the past, programming systems have provided only a single general purpose implementation for an abstract type. Thus the programs produced using abstract types were often inefficient in space or time. In this paper a system for automatically choosing efficient implementations for abstract types from a library of implementations is discussed. This process is discussed in detail for an example program. General issues in data structure selection are also reviewed.

Automatic data structure selection: an example and overview

: A system is described which automatically chooses representations for high-level information structures, such as sets, sequences, and relations for a given computer program. Representations are picked from a fixed library of low- level data structures including linked-lists, binary trees and hash tables. The representations are chosen by attempting to minimize the predicted space-time integral of the user's program execution. Predictions are based upon statistics of information structure use provided directly by the user and collected by monitoring executions of the user program using default representations for the high-level structures. A demonstration system has been constructed. Results using that system are presented.

/pdf/automatic-coding-choice-of-data-structures-3s7o0sdwx4.pdf

Automatic coding: choice of data structures.

Rochester's Intelligent Gateway (RIG) system provides convenient access to a wide range of computing facilities. The system includes five large minicomputers in a very fast internal network, disk and tape storage, a printer/plotter and a number of display terminals. These are connected to larger campus machines (IBM 360/65 and DEC KL10) and to the ARPANET. The operating system and other software support for such a system present some interesting design problems. This paper contains a high-level technical discussion of the software designs, many of which will be treated in more detail in subsequent reports.

/pdf/rig-rochester-s-intelligent-gateway-system-overview-1i49m5iggo.pdf

RIG, Rochester's Intelligent Gateway: System Overview

The RIG system provides convenient access to a wide range of computing facilities. The system includes five large mini-computers in a very fast internal network, disk and tape storage, a printer/plotter, and a number of display terminals. These are connected to larger campus machines (IBM 360/65 and DEC KL10) and to the ARPANET. The operating system and other software support for such a system present some interesting design problems. This paper contains a high level technical discussion of the software designs, many of which will be treated in more detail in subsequent reports.

RIG, rochester"s intelligent gateway: System overview

We are all aware of the development of increasingly sophisticated, elaborate, and expensive computer programs, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence, data base management, and intelligent systems. The need for techniques to deal with such complexity has renewed interest in programming language research. Recent work on structured programming, intelligent compilers, automatic program generation and verification, and high-level optimization has resulted. A pattern of approach similar to that of earlier research on programming languages is emerging. The work divides naturally into two parts: the search for good linguistic tools for expressing algorithms and data, and the development of practical methods for translating these to working computer programs. Our emphasis in this paper is in the latter.

/pdf/techniques-for-the-automatic-selection-of-data-structures-55shsh7nid.pdf

James R. Low

Papers

Automatic data structure selection: an example and overview

Automatic coding: choice of data structures.

RIG, Rochester's Intelligent Gateway: System Overview

RIG, rochester"s intelligent gateway: System overview

Techniques for the automatic selection of data structures