CRPC-TR93446

Title:    Strand and PCN:  Two Generations of
          Compositional Programming Languages

Author:   Ian Foster

Date:     May 1994

Keywords:

Abstract:

  Two parallel languages and their associated programming systems
  are reviewed and evaluated.  Both Strand and PCN are designed
  to facilitate parallel program development by providing an
  expressive high-level notation; by integrating tools for
  debugging, performance analysis, etc.; and by providing
  portability across different parallel computers.  Both provide
  explicit parallel constructs and use single-assignment variables
  as an abstraction for communication and synchronization.  They
  support a compositional approach to program design, in which
  programs composed from simpler components inherit the properties
  of these components.  Strand, developed in 1988, is a first-
  generation system specialized for symbolic applications.  PCN,
  developd in 1990, is a second-generation system that supports
  both symbolic and numeric computing.  Both systems are available
  on a range of parallel computers, have been widely distributed,
  and are in use in many applications.  This paper summarizes
  their principal features, describes representative appliations,
  and evaluates ktheir strengths and weaknesses or parallel
  programming.


Publication History:

  To be published in Communications of the ACM, 1994.