The innovative progress in the development of large- and small-scale parallel computing systems and their increasing availability have caused a sharp rise in interest in the scientific principles that underlie parallel computation and parallel programming. The biannual Parallel Architectures and Languages Europe (PARLE) conferences aim at presenting current research on all aspects of the theory, design and application of parallel computing systems and parallel processing. PARLE '91, the third conference in the series, again offers a wealth of high-quality research material for the benefit of the scientific community. Compared to its predecessors, the scope of PARLE '91 has been broadened so as to cover the area of parallel algorithms and complexity, in addition to the central themes of parallel architectures and languages. The two-volume proceedings of the PARLE '91 conference contain the text of all contributed papers that were selected for the programme and of the invited papers by leading experts in the field.

Since the first PARLE conference, PARLE '87, attracted more than 300 participants, it was considered a useful and successful forum and encouraged the organization of this second issue known as PARLE '89. The initiative for these conferences was taken by project 415 of ESPRIT (the European Strategic Programme for Research and Development in Information Technology of the Commission of the European Communities). Their scope covers central themes in the area of parallel architectures and languages, including such topics as concurrent, object-oriented, logic and functional programming; MIMD, dataflow, inference and reduction machines; design and verification of parallel systems; VLSI, WSI and RISC architectures; performance evaluation, memory management, systolic arrays, applications and special purpose architectures. The four invited lectures present the state of the art and advanced developments in major research areas related to the topics of the conference. Of the more than 150 submitted papers 45 were selected for presentation. Furthermore the program of PARLE '89 comprises presentations on the subprojects which together constitute ESPRIT project 415. Parallel architectures based on a variety of programming styles (object-oriented, logic, functional, dataflow) are represented in these overviews.

Since the first PARLE conference, PARLE '87, attracted more than 300 participants, it was considered a useful and successful forum and encouraged the organization of this second issue known as PARLE '89. The initiative for these conferences was taken by project 415 of ESPRIT (the European Strategic Programme for Research and Development in Information Technology of the Commission of the European Communities). Their scope covers central themes in the area of parallel architectures and languages, including such topics as concurrent, object-oriented, logic and functional programming; MIMD, dataflow, inference and reduction machines; design and verification of parallel systems; VLSI, WSI and RISC architectures; performance evaluation, memory management, systolic arrays, applications and special purpose architectures. The five invited lectures present the state of the art and advanced developments in major research areas related to the topics of the conference. Of the more than 150 submitted papers, 45 were selected for presentation. Furthermore the program of PARLE '89 comprises presentations on the subprojects which together constitute ESPRIT project 415. Parallel architectures based on a variety of programming styles (object-oriented, logic, functional, dataflow) are represented in these overviews.

'Design by programming' has proved very successful in the development of complex software systems. This book describes the construction of programs for VLSI digital circuit design, using the language Tangram, and shows how they can be compiled automatically in fully asynchronous circuits. Handshake circuits were invented by the author to separate questions involving the efficient implementation of the VLSI circuits from issues arising in their design. Dr van Berkel presents a mathematical theory of handshake circuits and a silicon compiler supported by a correctness proof. The treatment of VLSI realizations of handshake circuits includes various forms of optimization, handshake refinement, message encoding, circuit initialization, and testing. The approach is illustrated with a host of examples drawn from a wide range of application areas. The book will be of use to electrical engineers and computer scientists involved in VLSI design.