High Performance Computing

by Charles Severance, 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

466 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

Charles is a Clinical Associate Professor and teaches in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. He also works with the IMS Global Learning Consortium promoting and developing standards for teaching and learning technology. He also works for Longsight as Sakai Chief Strategist. Previously he was the Executive Director of the Sakai Foundation and the Chief Architect of the Sakai Project.

Charles teaches two popular MOOCs to students worldwide on the Coursera platform: Internet History, Technology, and Security and Programming for Everybody and is a long-time advocate of open educational resources to empower teachers.

Charles is the editor of the Computing Conversations column in IEEE Computer magazine that features a monthly article and video interview of a computing pioneer. Charles is the author of the book, "Sakai: Building an Open Source Community" that describes the early days of the open source Sakai project. Charles is also the author of the book, "Using Google App Engine" from O'Reilly and Associates and the book "Python for Informatics: Exploring Information". He also wrote the O'Reilly book titled, "High Performance Computing". Charles has a background in standards including serving as the vice-chair for the IEEE Posix P1003 standards effort and edited the Standards Column in IEEE Computer Magazine from 1995-1999.

Charles is active in media as a hobby, he has co-hosted several television shows including "Nothin but Net" produced by MediaOne and a nationally televised program about the Internet called "Internet:TCI". Charles appeared for over 10 years as an expert on Internet and Technology as a co-host of a live call-in radio program on the local Public Radio affiliate (www.wkar.org).

Chuck's hobbies include off-road motorcycle riding, karaoke and playing hockey.

Charles has a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Michigan State University.

Reviews

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and useful.