Distributed Algorithms: An Intuitive Approach (Hardcover)

This book offers students and researchers a guide to distributed algorithms that emphasizes examples and exercises rather than the intricacies of mathematical models. It avoids mathematical argumentation, often a stumbling block for students, teaching algorithmic thought rather than proofs and logic. This approach allows the student to learn a large number of algorithms within a relatively short span of time. Algorithms are explained through brief, informal descriptions, illuminating examples, and practical exercises. The examples and exercises allow readers to understand algorithms intuitively and from different perspectives. Proof sketches, arguing the correctness of an algorithm or explaining the idea behind fundamental results, are also included. An appendix offers pseudocode descriptions of many algorithms.

Distributed algorithms are performed by a collection of computers that send messages to each other or by multiple software threads that use the same shared memory. The algorithms presented in the book are for the most part "classics," selected because they shed light on the algorithmic design of distributed systems or on key issues in distributed computing and concurrent programming.

Distributed Algorithms can be used in courses for upper-level undergraduates or graduate students in computer science, or as a reference for researchers in the field.

這本書為學生和研究人員提供了一個分散式演算法指南，強調的是例子和練習，而不是數學模型的細節。它避免了數學論證，這對學生來說常常是一個絆腳石，教授的是演算法思維而不是證明和邏輯。這種方法使學生能夠在相對短的時間內學習大量的演算法。演算法通過簡短、非正式的描述、啟發性的例子和實際的練習來解釋。這些例子和練習使讀者能夠直觀地從不同的角度理解演算法。還包括證明草圖，用於證明演算法的正確性或解釋基本結果背後的思想。附錄提供了許多演算法的偽代碼描述。

分散式演算法是由一組相互發送訊息的電腦或使用相同共享記憶體的多個軟體執行緒執行的。本書介紹的演算法大部分都是「經典」的，選擇它們是因為它們能夠闡明分散式系統的演算法設計或分散式計算和並行編程中的關鍵問題。

《分散式演算法》可用於計算機科學高年級本科生或研究生的課程，也可作為該領域研究人員的參考資料。