Language constructs for structured parallel programming

Abstract

Advocates a structured style for parallel program development. It is argued that a high-quality parallel computing program should be terminating (the program always halts in finite time) and determinate (the program always produces the same result for the same input). A methodology is presented for structured parallel programming, drawing on the successful philosophies of structured sequential programming. A set of structured constructs is presented to demonstrate this methodology. Conditions for termination and determinacy are then derived, which suggests a set of rules for the development of terminating and determinate programs. Infinite waiting and indeterminacy anomalies are characterized. An algorithm is described to detect these anomalies by syntactical analysis.<>