Practical Distributed Processing

Distributed processing has a strong theoretical foundation, but many day-to-day practitioners make limited use of the advantages this theory can give them. The result includes unreliable systems with obscure and intermittent failures that can cost time, money and in extreme cases, lives. Reliable construction of distributed and concurrent systems must incorporate theory in practice.


This book provides a concise presentation of the theory closely linked to the practical realisation of these concepts. This easy-to-follow textbook focuses on practical issues of building working distributed systems and gives an overview of the basic theory, principles and techniques, whilst illustrating how these fit together, via the process of building interesting, non-trivial systems.

Topics and features:

• Provides all the elements needed for a complete development of a distributed system, from theory to practice

• Offers an integrated approach to the field of distributed processing, and presents a coherent view of the field as a practical subject

• Links theoretical models of concurrency with practical realisation of systems

• Contains many examples from C, Java Ada and Eiffel, as well as case studies

• Considers important aspects of the engineering process, including models that can be used to assess and analyse parts of distributed systems, implementation techniques, as well as protocols and security concerns

• Many pedagogical tools: chapter summaries, exercises (with sketch solutions and hints), comprehensive glossary, Internet support for students and instructors, accessible at http://www.scm.tees.ac.uk/p.j.brooke/dpb/.

• Ideal for use by lecturers as a coherent one-term course or module on distributed systems


Written with undergraduates in mind, especially relevant for intermediate-level students, this user-friendly textbook will prove a clear and comprehensive guide to the topic and the foundations for a methodological approach to building these systems.


Dr Phil Brooke is a lecturer in computer science at the University of Teesside, and Dr Richard Paige is a lecturer in computer science at the University of York. Both have extensive teaching experience, from which this textbook has grown.