Entry requirements

120 credits with 60 credits in computer science, including participation in Introduction to Parallel Programming. Functional programming is recommended. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

To pass the course, the student must be able to

• explain and design algorithms for the manipulation of simple data structures such as sets, stacks, and queues for concurrent computing;
• formulate and reason about the correctness of algorithms and data structures in the presence of parallel threads;
• use and implement basic concurrent algorithms.

Content

Most computer applications operate nowadays on concurrent platforms, e.g., multicore architectures, distributed data bases, and geographically distributed servers. This means that all the algorithms and data structures that have along the years been designed for sequential programs must be extended to the concurrent setting. This course study how this is done in the case of basic data structures such as sets, stacks, and queues. Study of algorithms that manipulate such data structures such as insertion, deletion, and membership checking. Reasoning about the correctness and efficiency of these algorithms.

Sequential consistency, linearizability, coarse-grained synchronization, fine-grained synchronization, optimistic algorithms, lazy algorithms, lock-free algorithms, the ABA problem, atomic operations.

Instruction

Lectures, labs, tutoring.

Assessment

Oral and written assessment of assignments. Written exam.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the disability coordinator of the university.