Gregory M. Kapfhammer

Teaching Distributed Systems to Undergraduates: An Experience Report

Gregory M. Kapfhammer. Teaching Distributed Systems to Undergraduates: An Experience Report. Presented at the Sixth Jini Community Meeting, Boston, MA, June, 2002.

Related Projects: Joshua, RDBSpace, Parallel Genetic Algorithms

Abstract

In the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig writes the following: "When I think of the formal scientific method an image sometimes comes to mind of an enormous juggernaut, a huge bulldozer– slow, tedious, lumbering, laborious, but invincible. It takes twice as long, five times as long, maybe a dozen times as long as informal mechanic's techniques, but you know in the end you're going to get it." In this presentation, we will highlight an undergraduate course taught at a small liberal arts college that attempted to ensure that students "got" the fundamental theories and practices associated with distributed systems. We will report on the state of current texts and examine the accessibility of topics that are traditionally associated with the study of distributed systems. Finally, we will peek into the experiences of students as they applied the "enormous juggernaut" known as the scientific method during their initial forays into the development of distributed systems with the Jini network technology.

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