A Refinement Calculus for Shared-Variable Parallel and Distributed Programming

Parallel computers have not yet had the expected impact on mainstream computing. Parallelism adds a level of complexity to the programming task that makes it very error-prone. Moreover, a large variety of very different parallel architectures exists. Porting an implementation from one machine to another may require substantial changes. This paper addresses some of these problems by developing a formal basis for the design of parallel programs in the form of a refinement calculus. The calculus allows the stepwise formal on of an abstract, low-level implementation from a trusted, high-level specification. The calculus thus

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2002
• Where: FAC
• Authors: Jürgen Dingel
• Keywords: Calculus, Expected Impact, FAC 2002, Parallel Computers