在计算机科学中，分布式计算（英语：Distributed computing），又译为分布式计算。这个研究领域，主要研究分布式系统（Distributed system）如何进行计算。分布式系统是一组电脑（computer），透过网络相互链接传递消息与通信后并协调它们的行为而形成的系统。组件之间彼此进行交互以实现一个共同的目标。把需要进行大量计算的工程数据分割成小块，由多台计算机分别计算，再上传运算结果后，将结果统一合并得出数据结论的科学。分布式系统的例子来自有所不同的面向服务的架构，大型多人在线游戏，对等网络应用。

Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system is a software system in which components located on networked computers communicate and coordinate their actions by passing messages. The components interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal. Three significant characteristics of distributed systems are: concurrency of components, lack of a global clock, and independent failure of components. Examples of distributed systems vary from SOA-based systems to massively multiplayer online games to peer-to-peer applications.