WOPPLOT 86 - Workshop on Parallel Processing: Logic, Organization and Technology - gathered together experts from various fields for a broad overview of current trends in parallel processing. There are contributions from logic (e.g., the connection between time and logic, or non-monotonic reasoning); from organizational structure theory (of great importance for pyramid architecture) and structure representation; from intrinsic parallelism and problem classification; from developments in future technologies (3-D Silicon technology, molecular electronics); and from various applications (pattern storage in adaptive memories, simulation of physical systems). The proceedings show clearly that progress in parallel processing is an interdisciplinary goal; they present a cross section of the state of the art as well as of future trends. Furthermore, some contributions (in particular, those from logic and organization) deserve a broader interest also outside the field of parallel processing.

It was the aim of the conference to present issues in parallel computing to a community of potential engineering/scientific users. An overview of the state-of-the-art in several important research areas is given by leading scientists in their field. The classification question is taken up at various points, ranging from parametric characterizations, communication structure, and memory distribution to control and execution schemes. Central issues in multiprocessing hardware and operation, such as scalability, techniques of overcoming memory latency and synchronization overhead, as well as fault tolerance of communication networks are discussed. The problem of designing and debugging parallel programs in a user-friendly environment is addressed and a number of program transformations for enhancing vectorization and parallelization in a variety of program situations are described. Two different algorithmic techniques for the solution of certain classes of partial differential equations are discussed. The properties of domain-decomposition algorithms and their mapping onto a CRAY-XMP-type architecture are investigated and an overview is given of the merit of various approaches to exploiting the acceleration potential of multigrid methods. Finally, an abstract performance modeling technique for the behavior of applications on parallel and vector architectures is described.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 8th Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science held in Pune, India, on December 21-23, 1988. This internationally well-established Indian conference series provides a forum for actively investigating the interface between theory and practice of Software Science. It also gives an annual occasion for interaction between active research communities in India and abroad. Besides attractive invited papers the volume contains carefully reviewed submitted papers on the following topics: Automata and Formal Languages, Graph Algorithms and Geometric Algorithms, Distributed Computing, Parallel Algorithms, Database Theory, Logic Programming, Programming Methodology, Theory of Algorithms, Semantics and Complexity.

This volume contains the proceedings of the First International Workshop on Algebraic and Logic Programming held in Gaussig (German Democratic Republic) from November 14 to 18, 1988. The workshop was devoted to Algebraic Programming, in the sense of programming by algebraic specifications and rewrite rule systems, and Logic Programming, in the sense of Horn clause specifications and resolution systems. This includes combined algebraic/logic programming systems, mutual relations and mutual implementation of programming paradigms, completeness and efficiency considerations in both fields, as well as related topics.

Proceedings -- Parallel Computing.

This volume contains the papers which were presented to the workshop "Computer-Science Logic" held in Karlsruhe on October 12-16, 1987. Traditionally Logic, or more specifically, Mathematical Logic splits into several subareas: Set Theory, Proof Theory, Recursion Theory, and Model Theory. In addition there is what sometimes is called Philosophical Logic which deals with topics like nonclassical logics and which for historical reasons has been developed mainly at philosphical departments rather than at mathematics institutions. Today Computer Science challenges Logic in a new way. The theoretical analysis of problems in Computer Science for intrinsic reasons has pointed back to Logic. A broad class of questions became visible which is of a basically logical nature. These questions are often related to some of the traditional disciplines of Logic but normally without being covered adequately by any of them. The novel and unifying aspect of this new branch of Logic is the algorithmic point of view which is based on experiences people had with computers. The aim of the "Computer-Science Logic" workshop and of this volume is to represent the richness of research activities in this field in the German-speaking countries and to point to their underlying general logical principles.

The book is devoted to a simplified set-theoretic version of denotational semantics where sets are used in place of Scott's reflexive domains and where jumps are described without continuations. This approach has emerged as a reaction to the sophisticated model of traditional semantics. It was also strongly stimulated by the applications of denotational semantics and especially by its software-industry oriented version known as VDM (Vienna Development Method). The new approach was successfully tested on several examples. Based on this approach the Polish Academy of Sciences created the project MetaSoft aimed at the development of a definitional metalanguage for software engineering. The approach has also been chosen in the project RAISE (ESPRIT) which aims at a similar goal. The book consists of two parts. Part One is devoted to the mathematical foundations of the future definitional metalanguage of MetaSoft. This part also introduces an appropriate notation. Part Two shows the applications of this metalanguage. There the denotational definition of a subset of Pascal is discussed with particular emphasis on Pascal types.

This volume contains five tutorial papers based on the lectures given at the intensive course on Software Reliability Modelling and Identification in Como (Italy) from September 2 to 4, 1987. The purpose of this volume is to present some important models used to forecast the reliability growth during the software testing process, and discuss the practical applicability of models in the management of software techniques for model identification from data (parameter estimation, complexity selection, validation, etc.). The basic reliability concepts are also introduced for those readers who are not familiar with the reliability ideas. Besides the basic models, a new family of models is introduced in the book. This family is flexible enough to describe a variety of different reliability trends. Particular attention is given to the problem of the provision of tools to assist the user in selecting an appropriate model in a particular situation.

The idea behind the series of volumes Advances in Petri Nets is to present to the general computer science community recent results which are the most representative and significant for the development in this area. The main source for the papers for "Advances" are the annual "European Workshops on Applications and Theory of Petri Nets"; the "best" papers from the latest workshops are considered for the series, i.e. they are reviewed again and revised or extended accordingly. In addition to the workshop papers, the "Advances" also present invited papers submitted directly for publication. The present volume Advances in Petri Nets 1988 covers the 8th "European Workshop on Applications and Theory of Petri Nets" held in Zaragoza, Spain in June 1987. It also contains a survey on decidability questions for classes of FIFO nets by A. Finkel and L.E. Rosier.