An Introduction to CSP

Abstract

During a CSP course (as with any other) it is easy to lose sight of the wood for the trees; after spending several hours immersed in the formal properties of an operator, one is apt to forget why the operator was deemed to have been important in the first place. It has thus been found convenient to begin CSP courses with a lecture whose purpose is to provide an overview and informal introduction to the features of CSP. This complements the style of Hoare's textbook [2] (which develops CSP systematically and gradually) and leaves the lecturer free in the rest of the course to pursue a more rigorous presentation following the book.