Multicore, Transactions, and the Future of Distributed Computing - Maurice Herlihy, Brown

Maurice Herlihy
Brown University
http://cs.brown.edu/~mph/

Date: Thurs., Oct. 13, 2011
Title: Multicore, Transactions, and the Future of Distributed Computing

ABSTRACT: Concurrent programming models based on transactions have been around for a long time, but even today, there is a vigorous debate about what they mean and what they should do. This debate sometimes generates more heat than light: terms are not always well-defined and criteria for making judgments are not always clear.

In multicore architectures, transactional models can encompass hardware, software, speculative lock elision, and other mechanisms. The benefits sought encompass simpler implementations of highly-concurrent data structures, better software engineering for concurrent platforms and enhanced performance. This talk will try to impose some order on the conversation, and evaluate whether we are making progress.