This course is concerned with aspects of computation beyond sequential programs. Concurrency occurs naturally in most real-world applications and is also strongly suggested by any modern computer architecture. Working professionally in computing today thus means to be able to handle those challenges and to employ the available hardware to the fullest. This course introduces all basic mechanisms to analyse, design, and manage single computer as well as distributed applications. Topics addressed include: Basics of concurrency and its modelling, Mutual exclusion, Condition synchronization, Safety and liveness, Message passing, Architectures including operating systems and Distributed systems including networks, transactions and replication.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Describe the concepts involved in the construction of concurrent and distributed systems
• "Speak the language" of concurrent modelling, design and programming
• Select appropriate modelling techniques and mechanisms and apply them to the solution of problems in concurrent and distributed systems.
• Select the appropriate programming language and environment for the task at hand.
• Write scalable, concurrent modules which show the intended and predictable behaviours.
• Analyse and debug small to medium scale concurrent programs.

Assignments (30%);  Mid-Semester Exam (10%); Practical Quizzes and Exercises (10%); Final Exam (50%)

Thirty one-hour lectures, nine two-hour tutorials/laboratory sessions.

COMP1110 or COMP1140 or COMP1510 and COMP2100 or COMP2500 or COMP2300

Jeff Magee and Jeff Kramer, Concurrency: State Models and Java Programming, 2nd edn, Wiley, 2006.Ben-Ari, M.Principles of Concurrent and Distributed Programming. Prentice Hall, 1990.A.D. Kshemkalyani and M. Singhal, Distributed Computing: Principles, Algorithms, and Systems, Cambridge University Press, March 2011.George Coulouris, Jean Dollimore, Tim Kindberg and Gordon Blair, Distributed Systems Concepts and Design, Fifth Edition, Addison Wesley, May 2011