Designing parallel database programs using PARSE

The problems of constructing parallel programs are considered and the aims of the PARSE parallel software engineering methodology are introduced. PARSE is a multi-stage methodology that covers logical and physical design, design verification, and implementation strategy. The first stage in the methodology involves the use of process graphs which provide a language and architecture independent notation for partitioning the problem into processes and specifying the communication relationships between them. This paper gives an outline of the PARSE methodology and describes the process graph notation. The use of the notation is illustrated with an example of a design for a parallel database system