High Performance Computing

by Kevin Dowd, Kevin Dowd

The computing power that's available on the average desktop has exploded in the past few years. A typical PC has performance exceeding that of a multi-million dollar supercomputer a mere decade ago. To some people, that might mean that it's time to sit back and watch computers get performance is no longer an issue, we'll let hardware do the work. But if you're looking at this book, you're not one of them. Performance is always an issue. Even with the fastest computers, there's a need to harness the processing power and get more work done in a limited amount of time.If you're a software developer, you probably know that getting the most out of a modern workstation or PC can be tricky. Paying closer attention to memory reference patterns and loop structure can have a huge payoff. High Performance Computing discusses how modern workstations get their performance and how you can write code that makes optimal use of your hardware. You'll learn what the newest buzzwords really mean, how caching and other memory design features affect the way your software behaves, and where the newest "post-RISC" architectures are headed.If you're involved with purchasing or evaluating workstations, this book will help you make intelligent comparisons. You'll learn how to interpret the commonly quoted industry benchmarks, what vendors do to show their machines in the best possible light, and how to run your own benchmarks.Whether you're using the latest Pentium PC or a highly specialized multiprocessor, you'll find High Performance Computing an indispensable guide. Topics covered

Genres: Computers, Reference, Computer Science, Programming

446 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

Kevin Dowd is an economist with research interests in private money and free banking, monetary and macro economics, financial risk measurement and management, risk disclosure, political economy and policy analysis, pensions and mortality modelling. He is currently Professor of Finance and Economics at Durham University Business School and a partner in Cobden Partners based in London.

Reviews

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and useful.