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From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History

Troy Astarte

Minds and Machines, Volume: 34, Issue: S1, Pages: 51 - 71

Swansea University Author: Troy Astarte

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s11023-023-09632-2

Abstract

As computers became multi-component systems in the 1950s, handling the speed differentials efficiently was identified as a major challenge. The desire for better understanding and control of ‘concurrency’ spread into hardware, software, and formalism. This paper examines the way in which the problem...

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Published in: Minds and Machines
ISSN: 0924-6495 1572-8641
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2024
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63086
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first_indexed 2023-04-05T14:45:18Z
last_indexed 2023-04-06T03:23:55Z
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spelling v2 63086 2023-04-05 From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History e27e50656bd09f48772e6370ee7edae7 Troy Astarte Troy Astarte true false 2023-04-05 MACS As computers became multi-component systems in the 1950s, handling the speed differentials efficiently was identified as a major challenge. The desire for better understanding and control of ‘concurrency’ spread into hardware, software, and formalism. This paper examines the way in which the problem emerged and was handled across various computing cultures from 1955 to 1985. In the machinic culture of the late 1950s, system programs called ‘monitors’ were used for directly managing synchronisation. Attempts to reframe synchronisation in the subsequent algorithmic culture pushed the problem to a higher level of abstraction; Dijkstra’s semaphores were a reaction to the algorithms’ complexity. Towards the end of the 1960s, the culture of ‘structured programming’ created a milieu in which Dijkstra, Hoare, and Brinch Hansen (among others) aimed for a concurrency primitive which embodied the new view of programming. Via conditional critical regions and Dijkstra’s ‘secretaries’, the co-produced ‘monitor’ appeared to provide the desired encapsulation. The construct received embodiment in a few programming languages; this paper ends by considering Modula and Concurrent Pascal. Journal Article Minds and Machines 34 S1 51 71 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 0924-6495 1572-8641 History of computing, History of computer science, Programming languages, Concurrency 1 2 2024 2024-02-01 10.1007/s11023-023-09632-2 COLLEGE NANME Mathematics and Computer Science School COLLEGE CODE MACS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) The Leverhulme Trust, RPG-2019-020 RPG-2019-020 2024-07-11T15:05:04.6552093 2023-04-05T15:41:36.8647473 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science Troy Astarte 1 63086__27357__12ce44cad4f04658bad7fa33b776c39d.pdf 63086.pdf 2023-05-09T09:34:06.2719533 Output 641275 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2023. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0). true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History
spellingShingle From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History
Troy Astarte
title_short From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History
title_full From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History
title_fullStr From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History
title_full_unstemmed From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History
title_sort From Monitors to Monitors: A Primitive History
author_id_str_mv e27e50656bd09f48772e6370ee7edae7
author_id_fullname_str_mv e27e50656bd09f48772e6370ee7edae7_***_Troy Astarte
author Troy Astarte
author2 Troy Astarte
format Journal article
container_title Minds and Machines
container_volume 34
container_issue S1
container_start_page 51
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
issn 0924-6495
1572-8641
doi_str_mv 10.1007/s11023-023-09632-2
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science
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description As computers became multi-component systems in the 1950s, handling the speed differentials efficiently was identified as a major challenge. The desire for better understanding and control of ‘concurrency’ spread into hardware, software, and formalism. This paper examines the way in which the problem emerged and was handled across various computing cultures from 1955 to 1985. In the machinic culture of the late 1950s, system programs called ‘monitors’ were used for directly managing synchronisation. Attempts to reframe synchronisation in the subsequent algorithmic culture pushed the problem to a higher level of abstraction; Dijkstra’s semaphores were a reaction to the algorithms’ complexity. Towards the end of the 1960s, the culture of ‘structured programming’ created a milieu in which Dijkstra, Hoare, and Brinch Hansen (among others) aimed for a concurrency primitive which embodied the new view of programming. Via conditional critical regions and Dijkstra’s ‘secretaries’, the co-produced ‘monitor’ appeared to provide the desired encapsulation. The construct received embodiment in a few programming languages; this paper ends by considering Modula and Concurrent Pascal.
published_date 2024-02-01T15:05:03Z
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score 11.016392

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