The Parallel Programming Guide for Every Software Developer From grids and clusters to next-generation game consoles, parallel computing is going mainstream. Innovations such as Hyper-Threading Technology, HyperTransport Technology, and multicore microprocessors from IBM, Intel, and Sun are accelerating the movement's growth. Only one thing is missing: programmers with the skills to meet the soaring demand for parallel software. That's where Patterns for Parallel Programming comes in. It's the first parallel programming guide written specifically to serve working software developers, not just computer scientists. The AUTHORs introduce a complete, highly accessible pattern language that will help any experienced developer "think parallel"-and start writing effective parallel code almost immediately. Instead of formal theory, they deliver proven solutions to the challenges faced by parallel programmers, and pragmatic guidance for using today's parallel APIs in the real world. Coverage includes: bull; bull;Understanding the parallel computing landscape and the challenges faced by parallel developers bull; bull;Finding the concurrency in a software design problem and decomposing it into concurrent tasks bull; bull;Managing the use of data across tasks bull; bull;Creating an algorithm structure that effectively exploits the concurrency you've identified bull; bull;Connecting your algorithmic structures to the APIs needed to implement them bull; bull;Specific software constructs for implementing parallel programs bull; bull;Working with today's leading parallel programming environments: OpenMP, MPI, and Java Patterns have helped thousands of programmers master object-oriented development and other complex programming technologies. With this book, you will learn that they're the best way to master parallel programming too. 0321228111B08232004

Berna L. Massingill is assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.

"If you build it, they will come." And so we built them. Multiprocessor workstations, massively parallel supercomputers, a cluster in every department ... and they haven't come. Programmers haven't come to program these wonderful machines. Oh, a few programmers in love with the challenge have shown that most types of problems can be force-fit onto parallel computers, but general programmers, especially professional programmers who "have lives", ignore parallel computers. And they do so at their own peril. Parallel computers are going mainstream. Multithreaded microprocessors, multicore CPUs, multiprocessor PCs, clusters, parallel game consoles ... parallel computers are taking over the world of computing. The computer industry is ready to flood the market with hardware that will only run at full speed with parallel programs. But who will write these programs? This is an old problem. Even in the early 1980s, when the "killer micros" started their assault on traditional vector supercomputers, we worried endlessly about how to attract normal programmers. We tried everything we could think of: high-level hardware abstractions, implicitly parallel programming languages, parallel language extensions, and portable message-passing libraries. But after many years of hard work, the fact of the matter is that "they" didn't come. The overwhelming majority of programmers will not invest the effort to write parallel software. A common view is that you can't teach old programmers new tricks, so the problem will not be solved until the old programmers fade away and a new generation takes over. But we don't buy into that defeatist attitude. Programmers have shown a remarkable ability to adopt new software technologies over the years. Look at how many old Fortran programmers are now writing elegant Java programs with sophisticated object-oriented designs. The problem isn't withold programmers. The problem is withold parallel computing expertsand the way they've tried to create a pool of capable parallel programmers. And that's where this book comes in. We want to capture the essence of how expert parallel programmers think about parallel algorithms and communicate that essential understanding in a way professional programmers can readily master. The technology we've adopted to accomplish this task is apattern language. We made this choice not because we started the project as devotees of design patterns looking for a new field to conquer, but because patterns have been shown to work in ways that would be applicable in parallel programming. For example, patterns have been very effective in the field of object-oriented design. They have provided a common language experts can use to talk about the elements of design and have been extremely effective at helping programmers master object-oriented design. This book contains our pattern language for parallel programming. The book opens with a couple of chapters to introduce the key concepts in parallel computing. These chapters focus on the parallel computing concepts and jargon used in the pattern language as opposed to being an exhaustive introduction to the field. The pattern language itself is presented in four parts corresponding to thefour phases of creating a parallel program: Finding Concurrency. The programmer works in the problem domain to identify the available concurrency and expose it for use in the algorithm design. Algorithm Structure. The programmer works with high-level structures for organizing a parallel algorithm. Supporting Structures. We shift from algorithms to source code and consider how the parallel program will be organized and the techniques used to manage shared data. Implementation Mechanisms. The final step is to look at specific software constructs for implementing a parallel program. The patterns making up these four design s