A Decade of Progress in Parallel Programming Productivity

摘要

There are very good reasons for C and MPI's dominance in the parallel-programming community. They are superbly documented, elegant, clean designs that have been carefully implemented. In the hands of an experienced, disciplined professional, they provide a level of control that is simply not available elsewhere. Neither C nor MPI is a standing target: both continue to be improved, even though they are now mature technologies. How often, however, do the benefits of C/MPI outweigh its costs? Through all three of our studies, and particularly in this final one, we have seen substantial benefits-ranging from two to six times faster development to first successful parallel run-from using a higher-level language and programming model. These productivity benefits might be even greater for large programs that need to be maintained for years.