Learning more about distributed computing

Question

I'm interested in learning more about distributed computing and how to do it - mostly in C++ but I'd be interested in C# as well.

Can someone please recommend some resources? I know very little to nothing about the topic so where should I start?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Distributed computing in C++ is often done with CORBA. If you are interested in learning CORBA, maybe you can start here

Answer 2

For C#, WCF all the way :-)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa663324.aspx

Answer 3

Distributed computing encompasses quite a lot of areas. Is there a specific class of problem you are looking to solve?

If you are just starting off you might want to do some background reading before getting into language specifics. You could start from Wikipedia. The paper on the Fallacies of Distributed Computing is quite well known and would give an interesting read.

Answer 4

Seeing as you say your knowledge is limited, some of the better texts I've come across covering the fundamental concepts are:

• Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms by Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Maarten Van Steen
• Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design by Jean Dollimore et al.
• Principles of Concurrent and Distributed Programming by M Ben-Ari.

These books can be a bit heavy going at times though, but you can pick out the parts that are interesting to you.

Some more concrete (ie, less theoretical) coverage of the area can be found in:

• Parallel and Distributed Computing: A Survey of Models, Paradigms and Approaches by Claudia Leopold, and
• Parallel Programming: Techniques and Applications Using Networked Workstations and Parallel Computers by Barry Wilkinson and Michael Allen.

I can highly recommend these two books for anybody just getting started in the field. Don't be put off by mentions of "parallel programming", there is quite a bit of overlap between this and the distributed computing field.

It really depends what you're after though. If you purely want a "start coding distributed systems in 24 hours" type of book, I can't really help with any recommendations. However, a quick look on Amazon unearthed Distributed .NET Programming in C# by Tom Barnaby, which has some positive reviews. YMMV.