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Module Specifications

Archived Version 2009 - 2010

Module Title	Concurrent Programming
Module Code	CA670
School	School of Computing
Online Module Resources
Module Co-ordinator	Prof Joe Morris	Office Number	L1.13
Level	1	Credit Rating	7.5
Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None

Module Aims

The module aims to give students a deep understanding of the principles underlying concurrent programming, and to give them practical skills in developing multi-threaded programs in traditional and object-oriented languages

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module students should : Understand the purpose of, and pitfalls inherent in, concurrent programming. Understand the implementation of concurrency. Understand the need for resource sharing, the problems that arise, and how to solve them using semaphores, monitors, message passing, etc. Be able to reason about the correctness of concurrent programs. Know the features for supporting concurrency in several computer languages. Understand Java's concurrency model, its strengths and shortcomings Write a complex multi-threaded application.

Indicative Time Allowances
	Hours
Lectures	27
Tutorials	18
Laboratories	18
Seminars
Independent Learning Time	49.5

Total	112.5
Placements
Assignments

NOTE

Assume that a 7.5 credit module load represents approximately 112.5 hours' work, which includes all teaching, in-course assignments, laboratory work or other specialised training and an estimated private learning time associated with the module.

Indicative Syllabus

The idea of concurrency; threads; nondeterminacy; granularity; costs.

Memory model; multicore architectures; caches; shared resources; Creating & managing threads.

Parallel algorithms; searching and sorting; parallelisation.

Communication and synchronisation; mutual exclusion; monitors.

Semaphores; barriers; semaphore implementation.

Correctness properties of concurrent programs; reasoning about them.

Scalability; testing for performance & correctness; common pitfalls.

Liveness; deadlock; deadlock avoidance, detection, and recovery.

Thread pools; client-server architecture.

Shared data structures; queues; stacks; lock-free data structures; CAS instruction.

Resource management; fairness; priority inversion.