Writing Concurrent Code using Lock-Free Algorithms with Martin Thompson

Course Details

Next Delivery: TBA
Book Now On +44 2890 278498

Duration: 3 Days

Backed by many years of hard-won experience, Martin has created a truly inspiring and challenging course for Java and C++ programmers interested in building low-latency, high-throughput systems.

Taking a unique hardware-up approach, Martin will teach you how to build code that reaches world-class performance levels.

About The Trainer

Martin Thompson is one of the world’s foremost experts on concurrency and low-latency software.

Having spent many years designing and developing systems for some of the busiest exchanges in the world, Martin now works as an independent consultant and trainer.

Martin is in huge demand both as a conference speaker and as a trainer, and has been packing in the crowds at JavaOne, QCon, GOTO, and much more besides.

Recent Feedback

“This course was really great. It changed the way I think about all my programming work, not just with concurrent systems.”

“Excellent course materials and code examples, helping you to try things for yourself and learn by doing. The course has provided a wealth of useful information. Martin also covered interesting areas on request in order to tailor parts to the interest of participants. The most useful course I”ve ever done. ”

“The course is excellent, the materials very well prepared, the off the cuff discussions invaluable.”

“Great class. Martin really knows his stuff. He also struck a good balance between talking through concepts and having us do hands-on exercises. ”

“I feel it would be very worthwhile for all serious developers to think about attending (this course)!”

Pre-requisites

Ideally you should bring a Linux-based laptop capable of running at least 4 concurrent threads. That is, a quad core or dual core with hyperthreading. You should also have Java 7 and your favourite IDE installed. Everything else, including lunch, will be provided.

Content

By the end of this course candidates will have acquired a new in-depth knowledge of concurrent programming that allows them to develop data structures such as queues, executors, and shared memory IPC transports that significantly out perform any products currently available.

In addition to learning the basic techniques of building high-performance data structures, a performance testing and profiling discipline will be introduced that is fundamental to working at the extremes of systems performance.

Understanding Mechanical Sympathy

• Performance considerations on modern hardware
• How modern x86-64 hardware informs concurrent and high performance programming techniques
• Memory models for software and hardware
• Why contention of any type is the enemy and how to avoid it
• How we manage contention when we absolutely must
• How the JVM provides support for concurrent programs
• Profiling and performance testing

Concurrent and High-performance Algorithm Design

• Lock-free concurrency primitives
• Signalling state change
• Ensuring order
• Concurrent data structures – Queues, Dynamic Lists, Executors, Shared memory IPC, Locks
• Preventing speculative execution during critical data exchanges
• Managing contended state
• Wait-free techniques
• API design to avoid the latency J-curve
• Efficient back-off strategies
• Discovering hidden contention and how to avoid it