Welcome to CS 5220

This wiki is our reference page for CS 5220 for Spring 2014. Here you will find:

• First steps to start using the C4 cluster
• Information on using the C4 cluster
• Assignment descriptions and reference implementations

There is a class home page, but this will mostly be home to static information like the syllabus and lecture notes. We will use this wiki for most of the usual class web page uses (e.g. recommended readings and assignment information); we will also be using Piazza for class interactions.

Class description

How do we solve the large-scale problems of science quickly on modern computers? How do we measure the performance of new or existing simulation codes, and what things can we do to make them run faster? How can we best take advantage of features like multicore processors, vector units, and graphics co-processors? These are the types of questions we will address in CS 5220, Applications of Parallel Computers. Topics include:

• Single-processor architecture, caches, and serial performance tuning
• Basics of parallel machine organization
• Distributed memory programming with MPI
• Shared memory programming with OpenMP
• Parallel patterns: data partitioning, synchronization, and load balancing
• Examples of parallel numerical algorithms
• Applications from science and engineering

Because our examples will be drawn primarily from engineering and scientific computations, we will assume some prior exposure to numerical methods. Students should also be able to read and write serial programs written in C or a related language like C++ or Java. Prior exposure to parallel programming is not required, and non-CS students from fields involving simulation are particularly welcome!