Dear all,
I've just noticed this email trail. It reminded me to post a keynote presentation I gave recently - it's here:
It was given at a "Multicore Challenge" conference in Bristol last Monday.
Unfortunately they lost the recording so you have to guess what I said!
The main thing I've realised over the last year or two is that if you want to write efficient programs for huge numbers of cores, you have to think about the pattern(s) of communication. And of course, the language(s) have to be able to express them clearly; the compilers have to be able to analyse and optimise them; the architectures have to be designed to support them.
David
On 28 Sep 2012, at 18:08, Ian East wrote: Larry
Funding for research may very well exacerbate the problem, producing a hideous plethora of languages, whereas funding for action, within a commercial environment, I think could be justified, perhaps even fought for and won, despite the degree of commitment – the cost, both in product integrity, and in productivity, of the current situation is enormous and demonstrable, I think. The problem then is persuasion. Although we have a body of work showing the potential, dating back decades, the CPA paradigm still does not have a comprehensive text.
I think it's easier to get 'em while they're young. The new opportunity is to target a textbook at GCSE Computing students in support of the requirement to complete a significant software project. The Plumbing book by the Transterpreter folk could be built up to that I think, though it would need professional production. (If you're listening guys, consider it an offer.) That leaves a more comprehensive volume needed for the pro and academic markets.
I do plan to write one, but cannot do it for years yet.
Ian
Ian East Open Channel Publishing Ltd. (Reg. in England, Company Number 6818450)
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