Reliable distributed computing with Avalon/Common Lisp

Abstract

An overview of these novel aspects of Avalon/Common Lisp is presented: (1) support for remote evaluation through a new evaluator data type; (2) a generalization of the traditional client/server model of computation, allowing clients to extend server interfaces and server writers to hide aspects of distribution, such as caching, from clients; (3) support for failure atomicity through automatic commit and abort processing of transactions; and (4) support for persistence through automatic crash recovery of atomic data. These capabilities provide programmers with the flexibility to exploit the semantics of an application to enhance its reliability and efficiency. Avalon/Common Lisp runs on IBM RTs on the Mach operating system. Though the design of Avalon/Common Lisp exploits some of the features of Common Lisp, e.g., its packaging mechanism, all of the constructs are applicable to any Lisp-like language.<>