Book excerpt: This monograph describes a programming methodology based upon programming paradigms and generic programs and demonstates how distributed application programs can be developed by simple substitution of data structures and sequential procedures. The author introduces generic programs for two paradigms and shows how to derive new distributed programs for several applications related to the RSA cryptosystem, including RSA enciphering and deciphering, prime number generation, and factoring. The book is well-written and easily accessible to the non-expert. The work is an appealing combination of the theory and practice of parallel computing and provides a clear introduction to the theory and practice of RSA cryptography.