Introduction to Parallel Computation
Christopher J. Cameron, Steve Lantz
Cornell Center for Advanced Computing
Revisions: 3/2022, 9/2014 (original)
This topic explains parallel programming concepts through a series of examples in which people work together to sort cards using various strategies.
Objectives
After you complete this topic, you should be able to:
- Explain the two potential benefits of adding more workers
- Reason about how sharing a resource impacts individual and collective productivity
- Identify the extra costs imposed by parallel work designs
Prerequisites
Although not required, a basic understanding of serial (single-threaded) programming and some familiarity with computer terminology will help you use the material to develop some intuition about parallel computation.