Breakpoints and Time in Distributed Computations

This paper investigates how vector time can be used to set breakpoints in distributed computations for the purpose of analyzing and debugging distributed programs. A breakpoint is represented by a set of events in one or more processes. One interesting state in which a distributed computation can be halted is the earliest global state reecting all events in a breakpoint. A simple expression in terms of vector time is derived to determine this state. Another state of interest is the global state re ecting only events preceding any of the breakpoint events, but re ecting none of the breakpoint events themselves. Two alternative expressions are presented for this state. The rst one is in terms of vector time and a derived notion called reversed vector time. The second expression uses vector time and the convex closure of a set of events. Key words:Breakpoints Vector time Globalstates Causality Distributed debugging

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1994
• Where: WDAG
• Authors: Twan Basten
• Keywords: Algorithms, Breakpoint, Distributed Computation, Vector Time, WDAG 1994