Map-Reduce

[Yohan Liyanage]

Hi,

Can someone explain what is the concept behind Map-Reduce mechanism? I have heard that Google uses this as the base of distributing the load across servers.

[Garrett Rowe]

Here is a whitepaper they wrote on the topic. I believe the example in the paper are in Haskell, but for the most part its easy enough to follow.

And here is a critique of the google paper thats an interesting read. I know those examples are in Haskell, but again I think Haskell is easy enough to pick up.

If you have any specific questions post back, I think this a rather interesting topic. It certainly shows how functional languages, or a functional programming model, have some real-world value.

[Yohan Liyanage]

Thanks Garrett!

[Yohan Liyanage]

What are the alternatives for Map-Reduce, which can be employed for same purpose of data/computation distribution?

[William Brogden]

Data and computation distribution - sometimes referred to as "Grid" computing - is a HUGE area with lots of interest right now.

I wrote this article in an attempt to summarize the field.

Bill