11,543 research outputs found
Logic programming in the context of multiparadigm programming: the Oz experience
Oz is a multiparadigm language that supports logic programming as one of its
major paradigms. A multiparadigm language is designed to support different
programming paradigms (logic, functional, constraint, object-oriented,
sequential, concurrent, etc.) with equal ease. This article has two goals: to
give a tutorial of logic programming in Oz and to show how logic programming
fits naturally into the wider context of multiparadigm programming. Our
experience shows that there are two classes of problems, which we call
algorithmic and search problems, for which logic programming can help formulate
practical solutions. Algorithmic problems have known efficient algorithms.
Search problems do not have known efficient algorithms but can be solved with
search. The Oz support for logic programming targets these two problem classes
specifically, using the concepts needed for each. This is in contrast to the
Prolog approach, which targets both classes with one set of concepts, which
results in less than optimal support for each class. To explain the essential
difference between algorithmic and search programs, we define the Oz execution
model. This model subsumes both concurrent logic programming
(committed-choice-style) and search-based logic programming (Prolog-style).
Instead of Horn clause syntax, Oz has a simple, fully compositional,
higher-order syntax that accommodates the abilities of the language. We
conclude with lessons learned from this work, a brief history of Oz, and many
entry points into the Oz literature.Comment: 48 pages, to appear in the journal "Theory and Practice of Logic
Programming
Virtual Machine Support for Many-Core Architectures: Decoupling Abstract from Concrete Concurrency Models
The upcoming many-core architectures require software developers to exploit
concurrency to utilize available computational power. Today's high-level
language virtual machines (VMs), which are a cornerstone of software
development, do not provide sufficient abstraction for concurrency concepts. We
analyze concrete and abstract concurrency models and identify the challenges
they impose for VMs. To provide sufficient concurrency support in VMs, we
propose to integrate concurrency operations into VM instruction sets.
Since there will always be VMs optimized for special purposes, our goal is to
develop a methodology to design instruction sets with concurrency support.
Therefore, we also propose a list of trade-offs that have to be investigated to
advise the design of such instruction sets.
As a first experiment, we implemented one instruction set extension for
shared memory and one for non-shared memory concurrency. From our experimental
results, we derived a list of requirements for a full-grown experimental
environment for further research
TAPAs: A Tool for the Analysis of Process Algebras
Process algebras are formalisms for modelling concurrent systems that permit mathematical reasoning with respect to a set of desired properties. TAPAs is a tool that can be used to support the use of process algebras to specify and analyze concurrent systems. It does not aim at guaranteeing high performances, but has been developed as a support to teaching. Systems are described as process algebras terms that are then mapped to labelled transition systems (LTSs). Properties are verified either by checking equivalence of concrete and abstract systems descriptions, or by model checking temporal formulae over the obtained LTS. A key feature of TAPAs, that makes it particularly suitable for teaching, is that it maintains a consistent double representation of each system both as a term and as a graph. Another useful didactical feature is the exhibition of counterexamples in case equivalences are not verified or the proposed formulae are not satisfied
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