Debugging concurrent systems based on object groups

Abstract

This paper presents a debugging method for Concurrent Object-Oriented Systems. Our method is based upon a new notion called Object Groups. An Object Group is a collection of objects which forms a natural unit for performing collective tasks. An Object Group’s Task differs from C. Manning’s nested transaction which is based on the nested request-reply bilateral message passing structures. Each Object Group’s Task permits more general message passing structures. The language constructs which specify and use Object Groups have been introduced into an object-oriented concurrent language ABCL/l. The paper also describes ABCL/l’s debugging tools based on Object Groups.