1. Transactional Programming EE 4984/5984
Sandeep Hans
ECE Department
Virginia Tech

2. Who is the instructor? Sandeep Hans PhD (Technion, Israel, 2015)
Joined Virginia Tech, Fall 2015
Works in SSRG group as Post Doctoral Research Associate
Major focus on theoretical foundations of Transactional Memory

3. Course Schedule Mondays, Wednesdays, 12:30 – 1:45pm 261 Durham Hall
Some guest lectures
Dr. Roberto Palmieri (Res Asst Prof, SSRG)
Dr. Sebastiano Peluso (Res Asst Prof, SSRG)

4. Contacts and GTA Instructor sandeep.hans@vt.edu, 540-449-5663
Office: 454 Durham
Office hours: Wednesdays: 3:45-5pm

5. Course Objectives
Understanding principles and practice of Transactional Memory programming
How to ensure that a TM is correct?
Consistency conditions
How to get good performance?
Progress guarantees

6. Course structure
Principles first
Practice later

7. Prerequisites Graduate standing
Undergraduate OS or Embedded Systems course
Knowledge of basic concurrent programming in Java, or in C/C++ (augmented with a threads package such as PThreads), or in C#
(Can also be achieved otherwise)

8. Textbooks and papers
Tim Harris, James Larus, Ravi Rajwar, Transactional Memory, 2nd Edition, Morgan and Claypool Publishers, 2010
Recommended:
Rachid Guerraoui, Paolo Romano. Transactional Memory. Foundations, Algorithms, Tools, and Applications, Springer, 2015
Rachid Guerraoui and Michal Kapalka. Principles of Transactional Memory, Morgan & Claypool, 2010
Maurice Herlihy, Nir Shavit, The Art of Multiprocessor Programming, Revised Reprint, Morgan Kaufmann, 1st edition, 2012
Papers from literature (Canvas)

9. Assignments (Theory and Programming)
Grading (tentative)
Type of graded work
Number
Total % of final grade
Assignments (Theory and Programming) 5
50% (10% each)
Quiz 1
10%
Programming Project
(Max group size: 2)
20%
Final Exam
The course is planned to have 5 assignments, where each consists of question(s) and programming work. Each of these assignments counts as 10% of the final grade. One take-home quiz is planned to be distributed to students, and it counts as 10% of the final grade. A programming project is required, and it weights 20% of the final grade. The final exam contributes to 20% of the final grade.
- Project: Substantial implementation related to, or complimentary to course topics
–  A prospective topic list is TBA in Canvas
–  Propose your own (e.g., related to your
thesis research)

10. Website Course Website Canvas (canvas.vt.edu)
Syllabus, lecture slide, homeworks, projects, etc.
Bring lecture slides to class
Discussion forum for discussions
Lectures, projects, etc.
Announcements
The course is planned to have 5 assignments, where each consists of question(s) and programming work. Each of these assignments counts as 10% of the final grade. One take-home quiz is planned to be distributed to students, and it counts as 10% of the final grade. A programming project is required, and it weights 20% of the final grade. The final exam contributes to 20% of the final grade.
- Project: Substantial implementation related to, or complimentary to course topics
–  A prospective topic list is TBA in Canvas
–  Propose your own (e.g., related to your
thesis research)

11. Miscellaneous Honor code policy Special needs, feedback, suggestions?
VT’s honor code is expected in all phases of course
All work is expected to be the original work of individual student
Special needs, feedback, suggestions?
Talk to instructor
See syllabus in Scholar
The course is planned to have 5 assignments, where each consists of question(s) and programming work. Each of these assignments counts as 10% of the final grade. One take-home quiz is planned to be distributed to students, and it counts as 10% of the final grade. A programming project is required, and it weights 20% of the final grade. The final exam contributes to 20% of the final grade.
- Project: Substantial implementation related to, or complimentary to course topics
–  A prospective topic list is TBA in Canvas
–  Propose your own (e.g., related to your
thesis research)