distributed algorithm is a type of algorithm that can be distributed across many modules.
There are a few core areas of research:
failure-proofing nodes is a distributed algorithm
- What if one processor fails?
communication in a distributed algorithm
- What if communication between processors fails?
- What if timing fails?
atomicity
atomicity is a property of distributed algorithm where, for a set of steps, a processor can only do one or all of the steps. i.e.: if you are asking a node to do something, it can either do all of the thing or be able to roll back as if the entire thing didn’t happen.
leader election (algorithms)
leader election is the process by which a distributed algorithm elects the driving node among similar nodes.
consensus (algorithms)
consensus is a mechanism in a distributed algorithm where the solution requires multiple processes to do the same calculation to confirm.