Before the course the student should be able to:

• use world-wide-web and email
  
• describe what a client and a server is
  
• design, implement, and test medium-sized programs in
  Java, including programs using inheritance
  

• describe the fundamental principles and models used in
  designing and constructing distributed systems
  
• describe the use of middleware, including the principles for
  distributed objects and remote invocation
  
• describe basic concepts in distributed systems such as
  concurrency control, transactions, multicast, replication,
  logical clocks, name services, and distributed file systems
  
• implement distributed applications on the basis of the above
  knowledge using Java Sockets and Java RMI
  

A distributed system can be described as a collection of independent
components that, connected through a network, cooperate in
performing tasks. As an example, the components can be computers or mobile
phones. The network can be a local network in a singe building,
a network for mobile phones, or the entire Internet.

In this course we will study some of the fundamental techniques used
when developing programs for distributed systems. We will do this from a
practical as well as from a theoretical point of view.
The course consists of three main parts:

• Fundamental concepts:
  
  
  
  • characterization of distributed systems and models of them
    
  • communication between processes, including Java socket programming
    
  
  
• Middelware:
  
  
  
  • distributed objects and remote invocation
    
  • Java RMI case-study
    
  
  
• Resource sharing and other fundamental concepts:
  
  
  
  • name services
  
  
  • distributed file systems
  
  
  • transactions and concurrency control
  
  
  • replication and multicast
  
  
  • real time clock synchronization and logical clocks
  
  
  
  

Lectures from 13:30 to 16:00.
Exercises with instructor from 16:00 to 18:30 same day.
Mandatory exercises.

NB! In the introductory week, meaning from 27 August to 2 September 2004 the course will run from 16:00 to 18:30, where the first lecture will take place. This means, that exercises are cancelled in the introductory week.
 

All mandatory exercises must be passed/approved for students to
be eligible for the exam.

Oral exam for 30 minutes (this includes time for feedback etc). The exam questions are known in advance and there is no preparation time. Grades will be given according to the 13-scale and there is external censorship. The student is not allowed to bring notes on paper. For each question the student may bring at most three slides with figures, keywords and short notes.