An implementation of structured multiprogramming
W. P. Beaumont · Software Practice and Experience · 1978
Abstract The study of operating systems principles is greatly enhanced if processes can be expressed in language constructs that explicitly allow for multiprogramming. The enhancement is increased if such a system actually exists for practical use. This paper describes an implementation of such a system. The language used (a forerunner of Concurrent Pascal) is described briefly. The body of the paper describes the implementation method in some detail. In order to achieve multiprogramming with a single processor, a number of process descriptors are maintained, each associated with the execution point in the program of a parallel process. Control is distributed among the processes in a manner determined by the program environment. The design of the implementation, in itself, provides an interesting example of operating systems principles at work.