Maximally Concurrent Programs

Typically, program design involves constructing a program P that implements a given specification S; that is, the set P of executions of P is a subset of the set S of executions satisfying S. In many cases, we seek a program P that not only implements S, but for which P = S. Then, every execution satisfying the specification is a possible execution of the program; we then call P maximal for the specification S. We argue that maximality is an important criterion in the context of designing concurrent programs because it disallows implementations that do not exhibit enough concurrency. In addition, a maximal solution can serve as a basis for deriving a variety of implementations, each appropriate for execution on a specific computing platform. This paper also describes a method for proving the maximality of a program with respect to a given specification. Even though we prove facts about possible executions of programs, there is no need to appeal to branching time logics; we employ a fr...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2000
• Where: FAC
• Authors: Rajeev Joshi, Jayadev Misra
• Keywords: Executions, FAC 2000, Possible Executions, Specification