Professor Roger Kraft
Office: Classroom Office Building, Room 368
Office phone: 989-2273
Office hours: 2:00--3:00 TR, and by appointment.
E-mail: roger@calumet.purdue.edu

Text: Distributed Computing: Principles and Applications, by M. L. Liu, Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2004.

This course is an introduction to the programming of distributed systems of computers. We will cover both "loosely coupled" systems that use network programming techniques like sockets and remote procedure calls (RPC) and also "tightly coupled" systems that make use of parallel programming techniques like the Message Passing Interface (MPI). In order to understand these ideas we will also cover topics like multithreading, synchronization, interprocess communication, basic networking, Internet protocols, client-server computing, parallel architectures, and parallel algorithms.

Your grade for this course will be based on about 6 to 8 programming/homework assignments and a final exam in the following manner:

           75%    homework assignments,
           25%    Final Exam.

Each of the homework assignments will have a due date. To receive full credit for an assignment, it must be turned in by the due date. Assignments handed in late will be marked off 5% of the total points for each calendar day late up to a maximum of 50%.

In this web site you will find more information about this course. There are links to online information about distributed systems and information about course reading assignments. Your homework assignments and their due dates will be posted on one of the web pages.

The computer programs that you need to do all of your programming assignments are on computers in the Mathematics Computer Labs in CLO 363 and CLO 365.

In compliance with the American With Disabilities Act (ADA), all qualified students enrolled in this course are entitled to "reasonable accommodations." It is the student's responsibility to inform me of any special needs before the end of the second week of classes.

Ethics are an integral part of being a student and a professional. Academic integrity is the hallmark of this University. Therefore, Purdue University does not tolerate academic dishonesty in any form. If a student breaches integrity, the student risks sanctions in both the academic and conduct arenas. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the unauthorized use of other's intellectual property (plagiarism), and lying to an instructor or any University employee. Such actions will result in a failing grade on the assignment with the strong possibility of referral to the Office of the Dean of Students for a conduct sanction (see Purdue University's student handbook).