Distributed Computing - Fundamentals, Simulations, and Advanced Topics

The explosive growth of distributed computing systems makes understanding them imperative. To make this notoriously difficult subject accessible, Distributed Computing: Fundamentals, Simulations, and Advanced Topics; Second Edition, provides a solid introduction to the mathematical foundations and theory of distributed computing, highlighting common themes and basic techniques.

The authors present the fundamental issues underlying the design of distributed systems--communication, coordination, synchronization, and uncertainty--as well as fundamental algorithmic concepts and lower-bound techniques. The book's unifying approach emphasizes the similarities between different models and explains inherent discrepancies between them. Focusing on ideas rather than optimizations, the book discusses major models of distributed computing, including:

• Message passing and shared memory communication; synchronous and asynchronous timing models, failures, proofs of correctness, and lower bounds
• Leader election, mutual exclusion, and consensus
• Causality of events and clock synchronization
• Simulations between models of distributed computing
• Advanced topics including randomization, the wait-free hierarchy, asynchronous solvability, and failure detectors

With new material on such subjects as fast mutual exclusion and queue locks, and improved coverage of existing material throughout, this Second Edition will serve as a comprehensive textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students, and as a key reference for researchers and practicing professionals.