Parallel computing

Parallel computing is the simultaneous execution of the same task (split up and specially adapted) on multiple processors in order to obtain faster results.

Parallel programming models

Main article: Parallel programming model

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A parallel programming model is a set of software technologies to express parallel algorithms and match applications with the underlying parallel systems. It encloses the areas of applications, languages, compilers, libraries, communication systems, and parallel I/O. People have to choose a proper parallel programming model or a form of mixture of them to develop their parallel applications on a particular platform.

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Parallel models are implemented in several ways: as libraries invoked from traditional sequential languages, as language extensions, or complete new execution models. They are also roughly categoried for two kinds of systems: shared memory systems and distributed memory systems, though the lines between them are largely blurred nowadays.

Related Topics:
Shared memory - Distributed memory

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Currenty main-stream parallel programming models are:

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• PVM
• MPI
• OpenMP
• Global Arrays
• Co-Array Fortran
• UPC
• HPF
• SHMEM