Simplifying Hands-On Teaching of Distributed Algorithms with SPLAY
| Résumé |
Teaching distributed algorithms using a learning-by-doing approach
is usually associated with a slow and cumbersome learning process
for students. In order to test and evaluate even simple protocols,
students need to learn how to set up and operate a test bed, and to
write scripts for deploying, running their program and finally
retrieving some logs for parsing and observation of the results.
Moreover, the amount of code required in languages such as C# or
Java for implementing even a simple protocol is often one order of
magnitude more than the length of the protocol pseudo-code
description as discussed in class or in research papers.
Nevertheless, teaching distributed algorithms and protocols using
real deployed code on real conditions is highly desirable and can
not always be replaced by the use of simulators. We present in this
paper our experience of using SPLAY, a distributed systems
evaluation framework that greatly simplifies the work of both
instructors and students for hands-on learning of distributed
systems. SPLAY simplifies the writing, deployment and observation
of distributed algorithms and the management of test environments,
narrowing the complexity gap between pseudo-code descriptions and
executable implementations. In addition, SPLAY's features and the
focus kept on the algorithms and their evaluation, allow students
to evaluate their protocols in a variety of conditions, by
controlling the experiments and their running conditions, or by
allowing running them on multiple test beds at no additional costs
and with minimal administration complexity. |
| Mots-clés |
|
| Citation | E. Rivière, "Simplifying Hands-On Teaching of Distributed Algorithms with SPLAY," in Edu-Par'12: Second NSF/TCPP Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Computing Education, Shanghai, China, 2012. |
| Type | Actes de congrès (Anglais) |
| Nom de la conférence | Edu-Par'12: Second NSF/TCPP Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Computing Education (Shanghai, China) |
| Date de la conférence | 21-5-2012 |
| Editeur commercial | IEEE |