Reliable distributed computing with Avalon Common Lisp

Abstract: "We present an overview of the novel aspects of Avalon/Common Lisp: (1) support for remote evaluation through a new evaluator data type; (2) a generalization of the traditional client/server model of computation, allowing clients to extend server interfaces and server writers to hide aspects of distribution, such as caching, from clients; (3) support for automatic commit and abort processing of transactions and automatic crash recovery of atomic data. These capabilities provide programmers with the flexibility to exploit the semantics of an application to enhance its reliability and efficiency."Though the design of Avalon/Common Lisp exploits some of the features of Common Lisp, e.g., its packaging mechanism, all of the constructs are applicable to any Lisp-like language."