A programming model generates a graph for a program, the graph including a plurality of nodes and edges, wherein each node of the graph represents an operation and edges between the nodes represent streams of data input to and output from the operations represented by the nodes. The model determines where in a distributed architecture to execute the operations represented by the nodes. Such determining may include determining which nodes have location restrictions, assigning locations to each node having a location restriction based on the restriction, and partitioning the graph into a plurality of subgraphs, the partitioning including assigning locations to nodes without location restrictions in accordance with a first set of constraints, wherein each node within a particular subgraph is assigned to the same location. Each of the subgraphs is executed at its assigned location in a respective single thread.