News
Project Repositories and InfrastructureWritten on 04.07.24 by Felix Freiberger Dear students, we have created the project repositories in dGit for you. In case you cannot access your repository, please contact us immediately via the forum. Please also have a look at the Projects category in the forum. In particular, the post How to Project in VS Code explains how to set up… Read more Dear students, we have created the project repositories in dGit for you. In case you cannot access your repository, please contact us immediately via the forum. Please also have a look at the Projects category in the forum. In particular, the post How to Project in VS Code explains how to set up your IDE for working on the project, and the post Running Automatic Tests contains further details about the automatic testing infrastructure. On your personal status page, you will now also find your assigned project tutor. Have fun coding! Kind regards, |
Practical ProjectWritten on 01.07.24 by Felix Freiberger Dear students, welcome to the practical project! The mission briefing is now available in the course materials. Please keep in mind that the deadline to register for the project is Wednesday, 03.07.2024, 23:59. Until then, you must complete the three steps outlined in the Groups & Registration… Read more Dear students, welcome to the practical project! The mission briefing is now available in the course materials. Please keep in mind that the deadline to register for the project is Wednesday, 03.07.2024, 23:59. Until then, you must complete the three steps outlined in the Groups & Registration section of the project description. If you have any questions about the project, you're invited to pose them in the Project category of our discussion board. Kind regards, |
Exam Inspection – Markings AdjustedWritten on 01.07.24 by Nazareno Garagiola Dear students, We have now updated the markings for exam T with the changes resulting from the exam inspection. The final results are displayed on your personal status page. Kind regards, |
Course EvaluationWritten on 24.06.24 by Nazareno Garagiola Dear students, we would like to ask you to evaluate the Concurrent Programming lecture (unless you have already done so). You can do so here: Kind regards, |
Exam Inspection TWritten on 04.06.24 by Nazareno Garagiola Dear students, the exam inspection for exam T is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 14, between 15:00 and 17:00 in room SR014 in building E1 3. Kind regards, |
Results Exam TWritten on 30.05.24 (last change on 30.05.24) by Felix Freiberger Dear Students, you can now find the results of exam T on your personal status page. If you have obtained 31 points or more, you have passed the exam (why?). 72% of participating students have passed the exam, the highest score achieved was 58.5 out of 60 points, the median was 37 points. A grade… Read more Dear Students, you can now find the results of exam T on your personal status page. If you have obtained 31 points or more, you have passed the exam (why?). 72% of participating students have passed the exam, the highest score achieved was 58.5 out of 60 points, the median was 37 points. A grade for the entire course (including potential bonus points) will be calculated once the results of exam A are available. Kind regards, |
Exam SeatingWritten on 22.05.24 by Felix Freiberger Dear Students, on Tuesday, May 28, we will write Exam T, covering units A-D. If you registered for the exam, you will find your room and seat on your personal status page. If we did not assign you a seat and you think that this is an error, please notify us immediately. Dear Students, on Tuesday, May 28, we will write Exam T, covering units A-D. If you registered for the exam, you will find your room and seat on your personal status page. If we did not assign you a seat and you think that this is an error, please notify us immediately. As a reminder, to assist you in the final phase before the exam and answer your last-minute questions, our tutors are offering an extended Concurrency Café XXL tomorrow (Thursday, May 23) from 14:00 in E1 1, room 407, and on Friday (May 24) from 14:00 in E1 3, SR014 (moving to E1 1, room 407 at 16:00). Kind regards, |
Exam T PreparationWritten on 14.05.24 by Felix Freiberger Dear students, in two weeks, on Tuesday, 28.05.24, we’ll write exam T. To help you prepare, we are offering two additional events:
Dear students, in two weeks, on Tuesday, 28.05.24, we’ll write exam T. To help you prepare, we are offering two additional events:
We would also like to remind you to register in LSF for the exam. The registration closes one week before the exam. If you miss this deadline, you will be unable to participate in the exam – no exceptions. Kind regards, |
Bonus Exercise C AvailableWritten on 08.05.24 by Felix Freiberger Dear students, you will now find the Bonus Exercise Sheet C in dCMS. Dear students, you will now find the Bonus Exercise Sheet C in dCMS. Your Concurrent Programming Team |
This is a module in the computer science Bachelor's programme and related programmes at Saarland University.
The module has been awarded the Preis des Fakultätentages Informatik 2013 and multiple Busy Beaver Awards for excellent teaching (in 2011, 2017, 2019, 2023).
Concurrent Programming
In today's world, multi-core CPUs and other parallel architectures, such as graphics processors, are ubiquitous. However, programming and efficiently working with such systems is a major challenge, both theoretically and practically. This challenge arises due to the foundational principles underlying concurrency and the need to design efficient algorithms and software systems that can take advantage of these architectures.
The goal of the lecture is to familiarize students with the theory and application of concurrent programming. A tremendous challenge, without doubt.
In this course, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of concurrency in computation as a foundational principle of modern computing sciences, both in theory and application. Through analysis and application of various formal models, participants will deepen their understanding of concurrency and learn to apply formal computing concepts correctly. The theoretical knowledge gained in the first part of the module will be applied to practical programming in the second part. Participants will learn about the programming paradigms "shared memory" and "message passing", starting with the programming language pseuCo. They will also learn to describe various phenomena of concurrent programming using formal models and derive concrete solutions for practical problems. Additionally, participants will examine concurrent programming practices with respect to their adequacy and effectiveness, focusing on the strategically adequate reaction to concurrency problems under tight time constraints.
Audience
The target audience of this module is primarily undergraduate students majoring in computer science or related fields. Students may enroll in this module as early as their second term. Successful completion of the module Programming 1 and basic knowledge of Java are helpful.
Organisation
The module starts on Monday, 15.04.2024. All elements will be held in person.
Details of the organization and all formalities can be found on the Rules & Regulations page.
Lectures are scheduled to take place in-person on Mondays from 14:15 to 16:00 and on Tuesdays from 10:15 to 12:00 in the lecture hall HS 002 located in building E1 3.
Our team of tutors will provide support through tutorials that we plan to offer in English and German (depending on demand). During the registration process, you will have the option to indicate your preferred language. The tutorials will be held on Wednesdays either from 8:15 to 10:00 or from 10:15 to 12:00. Additionally, you can attend the Concurrency Café, where you can ask questions and receive more direct help. We'll announce dates and times for the Concurrency Café at a later date. You can also ask questions at any time in our forum.
In addition to lectures and tutorials, the module includes weekly colloquia. Colloquia are 15-minute sessions assigned to you and 2-3 other students in a peer group. In a colloquium, your tutor will assess whether you have adequately grasped the current module content. There will be a total of 8 colloquia scheduled on Mondays or Tuesdays throughout the teaching term. Passing at least 7 colloquia is a prerequisite for passing the module. You can find more information about the colloquia on the Rules & Regulations page.
Note that this module spans the teaching term in a somewhat unusual manner. Lecture season finishes early (prior to the practical project phase), and some weeks do not feature two lectures. Please refer to our calendar for all dates.
The schedule is still tentative and some dates may change.
Examination
The Concurrent Programming lecture is divided into two blocks: theory (𝓣) and application (𝓐), with each block spanning around four weeks. Following these blocks, the students will complete a practical project (𝓟) that concludes their learning experience. It is important to note that all three elements (𝓣, 𝓐, and 𝓟) must be passed to successfully pass the module (for more details, please refer to the Rules & Regulations page). There will be a written exam at the end of each lecture block, with the examination 𝓣 taking place on 28.05.2024 between 10:00 and 12:00 and the examination 𝓐 taking place on 14.08.2024 between 10:00 and 12:00. Re-examinations will be offered in early fall.
Registration
The registration will open during the first lecture on Monday, 15.04.2024 at 10:15.
Literature
The participants will get access to lecture material consisting of lecture notes and other resources that altogether cover the entire content of the lecture. Additional literature can also be found here.
Content
- Concurrency as a Concept
- Potential Parallelism
- Actual Parallelism
- Conceptional Parallelism
- Concurrency in Practice
- Object Orientation
- Operation Systems
- Multi-Core Processors, Coprocessors
- Programmed Parallelism
- Distributed Systems (Client-Server, Peer-to-Peer, Databases, Internet)
- The Difficulty of Concurrency
- Ressource Conflicts
- Fairness
- Mutual Exclusion
- Deadlock
- Livelock
- Starvation
- Foundations of Concurrency
- Sequential vs. Concurrent Processes
- States, Events, and Transitions
- Transition Systems
- Observable Behavior
- Determinism vs. Nondeterminism
- Algebras und Operators
- CCS: The Calculus of Communicating Systems
- Construction of Processes: Sequence, Choice, Recursion
- Concurrency
- Interaction
- Structural Operational Semantics
- Equivalence of Observations
- Implementation Relations
- CCS with Message Passing
- Programming Concurrency
- pseuCo
- Message Passing in pseuCo
- Shared Memory in pseuCo and Java
- Monitors and Semaphors
- Shared Objects and Threads in Java
- Shared Objects and Threads as Transition Systems
- Programming and Analysis Support
- Deadlock Detection
- Verification of Safety and Liveness
- Model-Based Design Supporting Concurrency
- Software-Architectures Supporting Concurrency