| Abstract: | BNR Pascal is a systems programming language intended for the implementation of the systems software of distributed computing systems. It supports the Ada Rendezvous model of tasking and communication, uniformly extended to support communications between tasks distributed over the computing nodes of a system. BNR Pascal was designed and implemented in 1980, and has since been used to implement the operating systems and real-time applications software for Northern Telecom's Meridian family of products. In total, more than 2 million lines of BNR Pascal exist. This paper describes the BNR Pascal remote rendezvous: the extension of rendezvous to interprocessor communication. It discusses the implementation of remote rendezvous, describing the advantages and disadvantages of several options. Finally, it details BNR's experience in using remote rendezvous in building substantial, practical distributed systems used in products. |
