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Abstract

Hoare's CSP espouses a very simple programming model, that of combining sequential
processes in parallel so that they cooperate in the execution of a task,
communicating values whenever required. Since its introduction in 1978, CSP has
undergone major modifications, and has also been given an elegant and reasonably
sound mathematical semantics based on the failures-divergence model. However,
whereas the original version of CSP was offered as a partial language proposal,
the current version is more of a calculus for specifying and reasoning about the
observable (possibly nondeterministic) behaviour of processes. This is due in large
part to three factors: (1) some of CSP's combinators for process composition are
too abstract and powerful, and may have to be either modified or left out altogether;
(2) there is no well-defined type system; (3) the syntax is not conducive
to large-scale programming.
This thesis presents the design of Impala, a strongly-typed imperative parallel
programming language based on CSP. Impala, an acronym for 'Imperative Parallel
Language', demonstrates that with care it is possible to produce a high-level
process-oriented language that is intuitive and powerful, yet simple and practical.
It is, in the first instance, suitable for general-purpose use, and achieves maximum
functionality with minimum complexity and confusion.
Also included are a summary. of CSP's failures-divergence semantics, and a
preliminary report on Impala.

Item Type:	Thesis - PhD
Authors/Creators:	Lian, Benjamin Yin Hon
Keywords:	Parallel programming (Computer science)
Copyright Holders:	The Author
Copyright Information:	Copyright 1989 the Author - The University is continuing to endeavour to trace the copyright owner(s) and in the meantime this item has been reproduced here in good faith. We would be pleased to hear from the copyright owner(s).
Additional Information:	Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tasmania, 1991. Includes bibliographical references (p. 182-190)
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