The role of concurrency in an evolutionary view of programming abstractions

DOI10.1016/J.JLAMP.2015.07.006MaRDI QIDQ890610zbMATHOpenAlexFDO

Authors Silvia Crafa

Publication date 10 November 2015

Published in Journal of Logical and Algebraic Methods in Programming (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1507.07719

zbMATH Keywords

programming languagesconcurrencytheory of evolution

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Theory of programming languages (68N15) Other programming paradigms (object-oriented, sequential, concurrent, automatic, etc.) (68N19) Models and methods for concurrent and distributed computing (process algebras, bisimulation, transition nets, etc.) (68Q85)

Abstract: In this paper we examine how concurrency has been embodied in mainstream programming languages. In particular, we rely on the evolutionary talking borrowed from biology to discuss major historical landmarks and crucial concepts that shaped the development of programming languages. We examine the general development process, occasionally deepening into some language, trying to uncover evolutionary lineages related to specific programming traits. We mainly focus on concurrency, discussing the different abstraction levels involved in present-day concurrent programming and emphasizing the fact that they correspond to different levels of explanation. We then comment on the role of theoretical research on the quest for suitable programming abstractions, recalling the importance of changing the working framework and the way of looking every so often. This paper is not meant to be a survey of modern mainstream programming languages: it would be very incomplete in that sense. It aims instead at pointing out a number of remarks and connect them under an evolutionary perspective, in order to grasp a unifying, but not simplistic, view of the programming languages development process.

Recommendations

• Concurrency in programming languages: A survey
• A systematic approach to language constructs for concurrent programs
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1950676
• Towards a language for concurrent processes
• Introduction to concurrency in programming languages.

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Cited in

(3)

• Evolution of a parallel task combinator
• Confluence: the unifying, expressive power of locality
• Abstract Semantic Diffing of Evolving Concurrent Programs

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