SYNCHRONOUS REACTIVE PROGRAMMING OF CONCURRENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE/

Synchronous languages are intended for programming reactive systems. R eactive systems, which include real-time systems and key operating sys tem components, interact continually with their environment. This pape r considers the applicability of imperative synchronous/reactive langu ages to the development of general system software, that is, to the im plementation of operating system kernels, file systems, databases, net works, server architectures, device drivers, etc. The languages Estere l and Reactive C (RC) receive special attention as Esterel is the olde st and most developed such language and RC is specifically designed fo r compatibility with C systems programming. An alternative soft-instru ction software architecture is described, which is well suited to real -world system programming. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.