Content area
The concurrent language, OCCAM, is simple, elegant, and well suited to an environment of a loosely coupled architecture. The language's designers have chosen the static state approach because it is easier to formally reason about programs. Little consideration has been given to how its concepts could be used in designing efficient and dynamic resource managers. PCHAN (Priority Channel) is a new notion for resource management in the design of distributed systems using OCCAM. The PCHAN concept effectively redefines the usual idea of priority. Generally, priority refers to the relative importance of access to the same resource. A case is presented in which the client is requesting different services from the same managers, and priority defines the relative importance of those services. PCHAN allows dynamic resource allocation by allowing clients to vary their priorities. This notion is introduced within the framework of the OCCAM model of computations and is illustrated using various programming languages.