Concurrent object-oriented programming in Lisp

Abstract

We describe the approach to the concurrent execution of object-oriented programs that is being researched at the University of Bath. The aim of this project is the concurrent execution of both new Lisp programs and existing Lisp applications. We are pursuing this goal by addressing the problems of concurrent execution at several levels: static analysis of Lisp programs as a basis for semi-automatic transformation, modification of medium-sized Lisp programs to use concurrent primitives to gain experience in their use and behaviour and the implementation of various concurrency primitives in a compiled distributed heterogeneous Lisp environment. Each of these topics is described in turn and its relationship to the long term aim defined above is examined.