Title :
Complexity and performance in parallel programming languages
Author :
VanderWiel, Steven P. ; Nathanson, Daphna ; Lilja, David J.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis, MN, USA
Abstract :
Several parallel programming languages, libraries and environments have been developed to ease the task of writing programs for multiprocessors. Proponents of each approach often point out various language features that are designed to provide the programmer with a simple programming interface. However, virtually no data exists that quantitatively evaluates the relative ease of use of different parallel programming languages. The paper borrows techniques from the software engineering field to quantify the complexity of three predominate programming models: shared memory, message passing and High-Performance Fortran. It is concluded that traditional software complexity metrics are effective indicators of the relative complexity of parallel programming languages. The impact of complexity on run-time performance is also discussed in the context of message passing versus HPF on an IBM SP2
Keywords :
FORTRAN; message passing; parallel languages; parallel programming; shared memory systems; software metrics; software performance evaluation; HPF; High-Performance Fortran; IBM SP2; complexity; language features; message passing; multiprocessors; parallel programming languages; run-time performance; shared memory; simple programming interface; software complexity metrics; software engineering field; Computer architecture; Costs; Libraries; Message passing; Parallel languages; Parallel programming; Programming profession; Software engineering; Software metrics; Writing;
Conference_Titel :
High-Level Programming Models and Supportive Environments, 1997. Proceedings., Second International Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Geneva
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-7882-8
DOI :
10.1109/HIPS.1997.582951
