The project will create operating system support and a programming environment for developing and maintaining long-running parallel and distributed applications that are continually evolving, such as automated manufacturing and scientific computation. Supporting changes at runtime requires an efficient, dynamic reconfiguration facility and an extensible programming environment. The scope of the research includes building toolkit at the system level, end-user environment for developing applications including algorithm design, prototyping, and evaluation of the efficiency and usefulness of the facility. The toolkit will utilize partial-order semantics and is based on the hierarchical state machine formalism. The programming environment is based on a scalable software architecture for specifying and verifying application behavior. The educational component of the CAREER project will develop advanced and introductory courses, and computer laboratories on parallel processing. These developments, present effective venue for providing advanced education and research training to graduate and undergraduate minority students and equipping them to meet challenges in a world that is increasingly dependent on distributed computer systems.
