0.0 Computing

Welcome to Parallel Computing for Beginners! This chapter will start you on your parallel computing journey, laying the conceptual foundations needed for the chapters that follow. There are many concepts to cover, so get ready to learn many new things!

If you are reading this book, you are probably familiar with the term computing, which we might define as “designing, writing, and/or running software in order to solve a problem”. Let’s examine each of these in turn:

1. Designing software consists of carefully specifying what must be done to solve the problem, and then devising an algorithm — a series of well-defined steps—that solves the problem.

2. Writing software consists of implementing an algorithm in a particular programming language, which results in a computer program. This program must be thoroughly tested to ensure that it actually solves the problem; otherwise, it may be necessary to revisit one’s design and start anew.

3. Running software consists of having a computer perform the program’s statements. When we are confident that a program correctly solves the problem, we can solve the problem by running the program on a computer.

Computing thus consists of two parts: (i) the software or program that is being used to solve a problem, and (ii) the hardware or computer on which the software is being run.

You have attempted of activities on this page