The scalable commutativity rule: designing scalable software for multicore processors
2,832 views · Published 27 February 2014 · 30:20 · Indexed 21 September 2026
Channel: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) · 2014 · Science & Technology
What fundamental opportunities for scalability are latent in interfaces, such as system call APIs? Can scalability opportunities be identified even before any implementation exists, simply by considering interface specifications? To answer these questions this paper introduces the following rule: Whenever interface operations commute, they can be implemented in a way that scales. This rule aids developers in building more scalable software starting from interface design and carrying on through implementation, testing, and evaluation. To help developers apply the rule, a new tool named Commuter accepts high-level interface models and generates tests of operations that commute and hence could scale. Using these tests, Commuter can evaluate the scalability of an implementation. We apply Commuter to 18 POSIX calls and use the results to guide the implementation of a new research operating system kernel called sv6. Linux scales for 68% of the 13,664 tests generated by Commuter for these calls, and Commuter finds many problems that have been observed to limit application scalability. sv6 scales for 99% of the tests. In the ACM Digital Library: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2522712
More from this channel
-
0:30
Challenges and opportunities for technology in foreign language classrooms
-
0:30
At the interface of biology and computation
-
0:31
LongPad
-
0:30
The effects of tactile feedback and movement alteration on interaction and awareness with digital...
-
0:27
Evaluation of tablet apps to encourage social interaction in children with autism spectrum disorders
-
0:31
Understanding the privacy-personalization dilemma for web search
-
0:27
Theory and practice in ux research
-
0:31
A design-led inquiry into personhood in dementia