High-level language support for programming distributed systems

This paper presents a strategy to simplify the programming of heterogeneous distributed systems. Our approach is based on integrating a high-level distributed programming model, called the process model, directly into programming languages. Distributed applications written in such languages are portable across di erent environments, are shorter, and are simpler to develop than similar applications developed using conventional approaches. In this paper, we discuss the process model, and present overviews of Hermes and Concert/C, two languages that implement this model. Hermes is a secure, representation-independent language designed explicitly around the process model. Concert/C is the C language augmented with a small set of extensions to support the process model while allowing reuse of existing C code. Hermes has been prototyped; an implementation of Concert/C is in development.