A major challenge in grid computing remains the application software development for this new kind of infrastructure. Grid application programmers have to take into account several complicated aspects: distribution of data and computations, parallel computations on different sites and processors, heterogeneity of the involved computers, load balancing, etc. Grid programmers thus demand novel programming methodologies that abstract over such technical details while preserving the beneficial features of modern grid middleware. For this purpose, the authors introduce Higher-Order Components (HOCs). HOCs implement generic parallel/distributed processing patterns, together with the required middleware support, and they are offered to users via a high-level service interface. Users only have to provide the application-specific pieces of their programs as parameters, while low-level implementation details, such as the transfer of data across the grid, are handled by the HOCs. HOCs were developed within the CoreGRID European Network of Excellence and have become an optional extension of the popular Globus middleware. The book provides the reader with hands-on experience, describing a broad collection of example applications from various fields of science and engineering, including biology, physics, etc. The Java code for these examples is provided online, complementing the book. The expected application performance is studied and reported for extensive performance experiments on different testbeds, including grids with worldwide distribution. The book is targeted at graduate students, advanced professionals, and researchers in both academia and industry. Readers can raise their level of knowledge about methodologies for programming contemporary parallel and distributed systems, and, furthermore, they can gain practical experience in using distributed software. Practical examples show how the complementary online material can easily be adopted in various new projects.

Grid Computing: Achievements and Prospects, the 9th edited volume of the CoreGRID series, includes selected papers from the CoreGRID Integration Workshop, held April 2008 in Heraklion-Crete, Greece. This event brings together representatives of the academic and industrial communities performing Grid research in Europe. The workshop was organized in the context of the CoreGRID Network of Excellence in order to provide a forum for the presentation and exchange of views on the latest developments in grid technology research. Grid Computing: Achievements and Prospects is designed for a professional audience, composed of researchers and practitioners in industry. This volume is also suitable for graduate-level students in computer science.

The aim of CoreGRID is to strengthen and advance scientific and technological excellence in the area of Grid and Peer-to-Peer technologies in order to overcome the current fragmentation and duplication of effort in this area. To achieve this objective, the workshop brought together a critical mass of well-established researchers from a number of institutions which have all constructed an ambitious joint program of activities. Priority in the workshop was given to work conducted in collaboration between partners from different research institutions and to promising research proposals that could foster such collaboration in the future.

Component Models and Systems for Grid Applications is the essential reference for the most current research on Grid technologies. This first volume of the CoreGRID series addresses such vital issues as the architecture of the Grid, the way software will influence the development of the Grid, and the practical applications of Grid technologies for individuals and businesses alike. Part I of the book, "Application-Oriented Designs", focuses on development methodology and how it may contribute to a more component-based use of the Grid. "Middleware Architecture", the second part, examines portable Grid engines, hierarchical infrastructures, interoperability, as well as workflow modeling environments. The final part of the book, "Communication Frameworks", looks at dynamic self-adaptation, collective operations, and higher-order components. With Component Models and Systems for Grid Applications, editors Vladimir Getov and Thilo Kielmann offer the computing professional and the computing researcher the most informative, up-to-date, and forward-looking thoughts on the fast-growing field of Grid studies.

The CoreGRID Network of Excellence (NoE) project began in September 2004. Two months later, in November 2004, the first CoreGRID Integra tion Workshop was held within the framework of the prestigious international Dagstuhl seminars. CoreGRID aims at strengthening and advancing long-term research, knowledge transfer and integration in the area of Grid and Peer-to- Peer technologies. CoreGRID is a Network of Excellence - a new type of project within the European 6th Framework Programme, to ensure progressive evolution and durable integration of the European Grid research community. To achieve this objective, CoreGRID brings together a critical mass of we- established researchers and doctoral students from forty-two institutions that have constructed an ambitious joint programme of activities. Although excellence is a goal to which CoreGRID is committed, durable integration is our main concern. It means that CoreGRID has to carry out activ ities to improve the effectiveness of European research in Grid by coordinating and adapting the participants' activities in Grid research, to share resources such as Grid testbeds, to encourage exchange of research staff and students, and to ensure close collaboration and wide dissemination of its results to the international community. Organising CoreGRID Integration Workshops is one of the activities that aims at identifying and promoting durable collaboration between partners involved in the network.

Presents trends and theories in the direction in which we believe software science and engineering may develop to transform the role of software and science in information society. This series contributes to elaborate on such trends and related academic research studies and development.

This volume comprises the edited proceedings of the second CoreGRID Integration Workshop, CGIW'2006, held October 2006 in Krakow, Poland. A "Network of Excellence" funded by the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Program, CoreGRID aims to strengthen and advance scientific and technological excellence in the area of Grid and Peer-to-Peer technologies by bringing together a critical mass of well-established researchers from 41 European research institutions. Designed for a professional audience of industry practitioners and researchers, the volume is also suitable for advanced-level students in computer science.