Design Level Support for Parallel and Distributed Applications

摘要

The growing interest in using a cluster of workstations as the target platform for high-performance applications, has again emphasized the need for support tools in application design, which is the subject of this paper. Here, we use as a discussion vehicle a graphical technique, ADL-D, that allows a developer to construct an application in terms of communicating processes. The technique distinguishes itself by its use of highly orthogonal concepts, and the support for automated code generation. Developers are encouraged to concentrate on designing components in isolation, making the complex design space more manageable than would otherwise be the case. ADL-D can be used from the early stages of application design through phases concerning algorithmic design, and final implementation on some target platform.