The class is focused on the foundational aspects and on the formal/mathematical semantics of concurrent systems. The class is structured in two main parts.
The first part describes the main characteristics and the basilar problems of every concurrent system (mutual exclusion, synchronization, atomicity, deadlock/livelock/starvation, ...) and the relative solutions at the implementation level (semaphores, monitors, system primitives, ...). Furthermore, more evolute notions are shown, like: failure detectors, their implementation and their use to obtain wait-free implementations; universal object, consensus object and consensus number; transactional memory, ...
The second part of the course describes the preliminary notions of a minimal concurrent language called CCS (execution of parallel processes through labelled transition systems, interleaving semantics, syntonization, non-determinism, process simulability) and presents a mathematical model, with different features for the specification and the analysis of systems written in such a language.
In the time left, we shall have lectures in the form of seminars where more advanced programming mechanisms (like name creation and exchange, type systems for the verification of properties, cryptography, distribution, truly concurrent semantics) will be presented.
The course integrates didactic parts to recent research problems.
- Teacher: Daniele GORLA