Paper by Erik D. Demaine

Reference:
Erik D. Demaine, “Higher-Order Concurrency in Java”, in Proceedings of the Parallel Programming and Java Conference (WoTUG20), Enschede, the Netherlands, April 12–16, 1997, pages 34–47.
BibTeX
@InProceedings{WoTUG20,
  AUTHOR        = {Erik D. Demaine},
  TITLE         = {Higher-Order Concurrency in {Java}},
  BOOKTITLE     = {Proceedings of the Parallel Programming and Java Conference
                   (WoTUG20)},
  BOOKURL       = {http://www.rt.el.utwente.nl/wotug20/},
  ADDRESS       = {Enschede, the Netherlands},
  MONTH         = {April 12--16},
  YEAR          = 1997,
  PAGES         = {34--47},

  award         = {Awarded Best Student Paper.},
  length        = {14 pages; 45 minutes},
  papers        = {CCC97; IPPS98; ProtocolsTR}
}

Abstract:
In this paper we examine an extension to Hoare's Communicating Sequential Processes model called higher-order concurrency, proposed by Reppy. In this extension, communication algorithms (or events) are first-class objects and can be created and manipulated dynamically. In addition, threads are automatically garbage collected and channels are first-class, that is, they can be passed over other channels. We describe the design of a Java package that implements the main features of higher-order concurrency, with similar ease-of-use to Reppy's Concurrent ML system. Our implementation can be easily extended to use a distributed system, which is a major limitation with Concurrent ML. We also hope to bring the idea of higher-order concurrency to a wider audience, since it is extremely powerful and flexible, but currently only well known to the programming-languages community.

Length:
The paper is 14 pages and the talk is 45 minutes.

Availability:
The paper is available in PostScript (192k), gzipped PDF (433k), and ZIPped PDF (434k).
The talk is also available in PostScript (192k).
See information on file formats.
[Google Scholar search]

Related papers:
CCC97 (Higher-Order Concurrency in PVM)
IPPS98 (Protocols for Non-Deterministic Communication over Synchronous Channels)
ProtocolsTR (Adaptive Protocols for Negotiating Non-Deterministic Choice over Synchronous Channels)


See also other papers by Erik Demaine.
These pages are generated automagically from a BibTeX file.
Last updated January 22, 2026 by Erik Demaine.