Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Joshua Phillips

Niklas Gustafsson

Artur Laksberg

John Joseph Duffy

Stephen Harris Toub

Tim Harris

Chunyan Song

Boby George

Simon John Baker

Christopher Alan Glein

Rhon Manlapaz

A method and/or computer program that incorporates isolation principles of separate address spaces and enforces the principles with a compiler and supporting runtime through a language-based model is disclosed. This approach significantly lowers the required overhead and retains the beneficial qualities of the scalable, isolated model. The model is implemented in a programming language where memory-based state is partitioned into a plurality of domains where the variables inside of a domain are isolated from external components. Agents are introduced inside of the domain and act on behalf of clients outside of the domain. The agents communicate with their clients via message-passing to enforce the isolation of the domain state. The domain-based isolation addresses the partitioning of memory-based state without the introduction of separate processes. Domains can also be used in conjunction with a distributed model either within a single computing device or between computing devices.

Language-based model for isolating shared state

A method of providing lock-based access to nodes in a concurrent linked list includes providing a plurality of striped lock objects. Each striped lock object is configured to lock at least one of the nodes in the concurrent linked list. An index is computed based on a value stored in a first node to be accessed in the concurrent linked list. A first one of the striped lock objects is identified based on the computed index. The first striped lock object is acquired, thereby locking and providing protected access to the first node.

Providing lock-based access to nodes in a concurrent linked list

Systems, methods, and computer media for resizing icons displayed in a user interface are provided. Icons in a display can be resized by a user interacting with the icon itself. A user interaction with an icon can cause an icon resizing mode to be entered. Additional user interaction with the icon can then cause the icon to be resized. The display in which an icon is located can be rearranged as a result of the icon being resized.

User-resizable icons

Disclosed herein are representative embodiments of tools and techniques for setting color settings of an operating system using one or more photographs. According to one exemplary technique, a photograph is received, and one or more pixel weights for one or more pixels of the photograph are determined. Also, using at least one of the one or more pixel weights, at least one dominant color of the photograph is determined. Additionally, using the at least one dominant color, at least one color setting of an operating system is set.

Setting an operating-system color using a photograph

Multiple types of executable agents operating within a domain. The domain includes mutable shared state and immutable shared state, with agents internal to the domain only operating on the shared state. Writer agents are defined to be agents that have read access and write access to mutable shared state and read access only to immutable shared state. General reader agents have read access to both mutable shared state and immutable shared state and have no write access. Immutable reader agents have read access to only immutable shared state and have no write access. By appropriate scheduling of the different types of agents, data races may be reduced or eliminated.

Method for managing data accessibility by scheduling three types of executable agents associated with pre-defined access rights within a domain

A compiler that enforces, at compile time, domain data access permissions and/or agent data access permissions on at least one agent to be created within a domain. The compiler identifies domain data of a domain to be created, and an agent to be created within the domain at runtime. The domain access permissions of the agent are also identified. As part of compilation of an expression of an agent, a H reference to the domain data is identified. Then, the compiler evaluates an operation that the reference to the domain data would impose on the domain data upon evaluating the expression at runtime. The compiler then determines whether or not the operation is in violation of the domain access permissions of the agent with respect to the identified domain data. Agent data access may also be evaluated depending on whether the access occurs by a function or a method.

Compiler-enforced agent access restriction

The scheduling of dataflow components in a dataflow network. A number, if not all, of the dataflow components are created using a domain/agent model. A scheduler identifies, for a number of the components, a creation source for the given component. The scheduler also identifies an appropriate domain-level access permission (and potentially also an appropriate agent-level access permission) for the given component based on the creation source of the given component. Tokens may be used at the domain or agent level to control access.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Joshua Phillips