Distributed Programming  
General Course Information  
Edirlei Soares de Lima  
<edirlei.lima@universidadeeuropeia.pt>  
Distributed Programming  
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Professor: Edirlei Soares de Lima  
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Education:  
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B.Sc. in Computer Science – UnC  
M.Sc. in Computer Science – UFSM  
Ph.D. in Computer Science – PUC-Rio  
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Teaching Experience: PUC-Rio, UNIRIO, UERJ, IADE-UE  
Game Experience:  
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Game Engines: RPG Builder, 3D Game Builder (http://www.3dgamebuilder.com.br/);  
Research Projects: most are related with Logtell (http://www.icad.puc-rio.br/~logtell/);  
Games: Krimson (Best Game Award at SBGames 2010 – Indie Game Development  
Festival), and several other prototype games.  
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What is Distributed Programming?  
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Distributed computing is a field of  
computer science that studies  
distributed systems.  
A distributed system is a system  
whose components are located on  
different networked computers,  
which then communicate and  
coordinate their actions by passing  
messages to each other.  
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Distributed programming involves  
the implementation of distributed  
systems.  
Distributed Programming  
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Games & Apps Development:  
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Study of the paradigm of distributed programming, distributed  
systems, and data communication solutions;  
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Study of the C++ programming language, and its use in the Unreal  
Engine.  
Learning Outcomes:  
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. Implement games and general applications using the paradigm of  
distributed programming.  
. Understand the main models for distributed programming and  
distributed systems.  
. Implement client-server and peer-to-peer games using C++ and  
Unreal Engine.  
. Assess aspects related with the performance of distributed systems,  
their advantages, and their shortcomings.  
Distributed Programming  
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Module Content:  
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. Introduction to distributed systems and distributed programming;  
. Processes, threads and synchronization;  
. Distributed systems architectures;  
. Introduction to Unreal Engine and C++ programming;  
. Multiplayer and network communication in Unreal Engine;  
. TCP and UDP communication in C++ on Unreal Engine;  
. REST web services and HTTP communication in C++ on Unreal Engine;  
. Evaluation of distributed systems.  
Method  
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Active and experiential learning:  
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Theoretical concepts;  
Practical examples;  
Implementation exercises;  
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Game framework: Unreal Engine  
Semester’s PBL team project:  
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Implementation of the game using the methods learned during the  
course (architecture, communication, and performance).  
Evaluation  
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Continuous Assessment (bipartite):  
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[50%] Intermediate assessment:  
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[50%] Individual exercises on the concepts learned;  
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[50%] Three intermediate deliveries of the team project (within the  
semester’s PBL team project).  
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[50%] End of term assessment:  
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[100%] Final delivery of the team project (within the semester’s PBL team  
project) with individual discussion.  
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Final Assessment:  
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[100%] Individual project development, delivery, and discussion.  
Evaluation  
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Project Deliveries:  
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1st delivery: identification of the communication necessities;  
2nd delivery: working prototype with basic network communication;  
3rd delivery: full implementation of the network communication;  
4th delivery: final version with performance and scalability analysis.  
Bibliography  
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Carnall, B. (2016). Unreal Engine 4.X By  
Example. Packt Publishing. ISBN: 978-  
785885532.  
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Coulouris, G., Dollimore, J., Kindberg, T., Blair,  
G. (2004). Distributed Systems: Concepts and  
Design (5th edition), Pearson. ISBN: 978-  
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132143011.  
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Glazer, J., Madhav, S. (2015). Multiplayer  
Game Programming: Architecting Networked  
Games. Addison-Wesley Professional. ISBN:  
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78-0134034300.  
Distributed Programming  
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Blackboard: Distributed Programming  
Course webpage:  
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http://www.inf.puc-rio.br/~elima/dp/  
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Contact:  
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edirlei.slima@gmail.com