Abstract: An extension of a general-purpose programming language (gpPL) is presented. It enables parallelism, persistence and query optimization based on sets. The authors demonstrate that in gpPLs the primitive "set" can be generalised for the needs of database and expert system applications. Side-effect free declarative queries, based on set expressions, can be optimized and executed in parallel. Individual optimization and parallelization are integral parts of the language system and compiler. Very different combinations of persistent or volatile, and parallel or sequential, and optimized or non-optimized implementations are possible. This is eased by the fact that a great part of the implementation is located outside the compiler with the help of predefined interfaces. Different algebras, optimizers or algorithms can be considered. The same program can be executed without modification in various systems or platforms.

Abstract: The Austrian Center for Parallel Computation (ACPC) is a co-operative research organization founded in 1989 to promote research and education in the field of software for parallel computer systems. The areas in which the ACPC is active include algorithms, languages, compilers, programming environments, parallel databases, parallel//O, and applications for parallel and high-performance computing systems. The partner institutions of the ACPC are the University of Vienna, the Technical University of Vienna, and the Universities of Linz, Salzburg, and Klagenfurt. They carry out joint research projects, share a pool of hardware resources, and offer a curriculum in parallel computation for graduate and postgraduate students. In addition, an international conference is organized every other year. The Third International Conference of the A CPC took place in Klagenfurt, Austria, from September 23 to September 25, 1996. The conference attracted many participants from around the world. Authors from 13 countries submitted 31 papers, from which 15 were selected and presented at the conference. Six contributions were accepted for a poster session. In addition, two distinguished researchers presented invited papers. The papers from these presentations are contained in this proceedings volume.

Abstract: An approach to accelerate distributed, object-oriented simulations is presented in this paper. It is based on the assumption that a higher acceleration can be achieved in an easier way, if the problem is alread tackled early at the modeling stage [STOP 95]. The user adds hints about the communication behavior and frequencies of object classes to the simulation model. Based on this information, an object graph is generated and distributed to a selected number of partitions. The distribution phase is fully automatic. As a result a distribution of the problem nearby the communication optimum is generated. In the next phase the distributed simulation program (code) is generated. In a final step the user only has to code the methods of the object classes and run the simulation. The major advantage of this approach is that the user is freed from the difficult task of finding a good distribution for the problem to be simulated, which is an important factor for the overall performance of the simulation. Another advantage is the possibility to vary model information (hints) about the communication, and get a new (quasi optimal) version of the simulation automatically generated.

Abstract: The difficulty of programming lies in the need to bring our ideas into a form that can be processed by a machine. This book shows how to write and understand even complex programs by applying proper structures and good style. It uses the programming language Modula-3, which relies on and extends the well-known concepts of Pascal and Modula-2. The steps needed do become an expert programmer are based first of all on the elegant type concept of Modula-3. The programming style supported by this concept leads the reader step-by-stepo toward coping with complex data structures and algorithms. Such new and exciting subjects as object-oriented and parallel programming are touched upon. The book requires no prior programming experience.

Abstract: Evaluating computers and other systems is difficult for a couple of reasons. First, the goal of evaluation is typically ill-defined: customers, sometimes even designers, either don't know or can't specify exactly what result they expect. Often, they don't specify the architectural variants to consider, and often the metrics and workload they expect you to use are ill-defined. Second, they rarely clarify which kind of model and evaluation method best suit the evaluation problem. These problems have consequences. For one thing, the decision-maker may not trust the evaluation. For another, poor planning means the evaluation cannot be reproduced if any of the parameters are changed slightly. Finally, the evaluation documentation is usually inadequate, and so some time after the evaluation you might ask yourself, how did I come to that conclusion? An approach developed at Siemens makes decisions explicit and the process reproducible