Distributed Computing

Abstract

Distributed computing is an established discipline in computer science and engineering. It has evolved over the past 40 years to be one of the most important methodologies for implementing the data processing services needed by almost every activity in society. Distributed computing is still evolving rather rapidly, with major innovations introduced every few years. The aim of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the basic concepts of distributed computing in the context of particle physics, allowing a better understanding of what is behind the scenes when using distributed systems, and providing starting points in order to seek further information on the subject.