academics – Page 2 – keeping simple

Basic math for basic algorithms

June 9, 2017 vy academics, theory

It’s odd that all the descriptions of basic programming operations, such as sorting, rely on pseudo code or complex formal logic. All we are doing

Computer Science as a scholarly discipline.

December 22, 2016 vy academics

Google Scholar tells me that “Why Functional Programming Matters” was published in 1989 and has been cited over 1000 times. Here’s a quote. Recall that

Chang-Maxemchuk atomic broadcast

September 2, 2016 vy academics, systems

The Chang-Maxemchuk algorithm (US Patent 4,725,834 ) solves atomic broadcast (and in-order broadcast) problems for distributed networks in a far simpler and more efficient way than some

Distributed consensus and network reliability

August 30, 2016 vy academics, systems

All of the distributed consensus algorithms I have been reviewing recently (Paxos, Raft, Zab, Chang Maxemchuck, Viewstamped, … ) are based on a number of

circularity problems in distributed consensus

August 25, 2016 vy academics, archived, systems, theory

Distributed consensus involves organizing a collection of independent agents – processes or network sites – to agree on some value or sequence of values. Many

The difference between unspecified, undefined, and non-deterministic

February 20, 2016 vy academics, systems

There is too much confusion in the “formal methods” computer science literature between these three different terms. Let me start with what this means for

Keynes apology

January 23, 2016 vy academics

The composition of this book has been for the author a long struggle of escape, and so must the reading of it be for most

Process algebra is based on a misunderstanding of automata theory

January 20, 2016 vy academics, theory

See the current pdf in Arxiv Robin Milner’s book Communication and Concurrency involves a take on state machines that is fundamentally incorrect. “Now in standard

More on Fischer, Lynch, Patterson and the parrot theorem.

January 14, 2016 vy academics, systems

I’m thinking about distributed consensus algorithms, timestamping, and databases and if you read that literature you will see many references to the Fischer, Lynch, Paterson

Theories of abstract automata – Arbib

December 12, 2015 vy academics, theory

We have said that automata theory deals with the realization of partial functions F: X* —» Y* by some finitely specifiable substrate. Before we specify