| Course code | 5284PMCM6Y |
| Format | Lecture course with lab sessions and workshops |
| Curriculum | MSc Computer Science (joint degree UvA/VU) |
| Block | 2a (Feb 5 - Mar 30, 2018) |
| Status | Compulsory for track Parallel Computing Systems Constrained choice Programming |
| ECTS | 6 credits |
| Language | English |
| Study Guide | Click here. |
| Objectives | To develop an understanding of the opportunities, challenges and limits of parallel computing and to gain practical familiarity with state-of-the-art programming models for contemporary concurrent multi-core and many-core computing systems. |
| Contents |
The course provides a comprehensive introduction into state-of-the-art programming models for concurrent computing systems from multi-core processors in everyday laptops to large-scale server systems and high-end accelerators. We start with instruction-level parallelism and vectorisation. Then we continue with multithreaded programming models for shared address space systems, where we look both into OpenMP compiler directives and into more low-level Posix threads before we discuss advanced topics and common pitfalls of shared memory parallel programming. In the second half of the course we focus on general-purpose graphics accelerators (GPGPUs) using NVidia's programming model CUDA and end with advanced topics such as directive-based GPU programming, Intel Xeon Phi programming and cross-architecture programming using the standard-driven OpenCL programming model. The lectures are complemented by labs where participants gain first-hand experience with the various programming models and by group discussion workshops (werkcolleges) where participants present their work and discuss their achievements with each other as well as with the lecturers and lab assistants. The course is complementary to the VU courses Programming Large-scale Parallel Systems and the corresponding project course in that it looks into node-level concurrency, whereas the VU courses focus on systems that are made up of many nodes. |
| Lecturers | Dr Clemens Grelck (ccordinator) Dr Ana Varbanescu |
| Assistant | Giulio Stramondo |
| Lectures |
Tue, 13-15, D1.116 Fri, 09-11, A1.24 |
| Labs |
Tue, 15-17, D1.113 Fri, 11-13, A1.24 |
| Workshops |
Fri, Feb 16, 11-13, A1.24 Fri, Mar 02, 11-13, A1.24 Fri, Mar 16, 11-13, A1.24 Participation in workshops is compulsory!! |
| Exam |
Tue, Mar 27, 15-17, G3.02 |
| Grading |
We have 4 bi-weekly assignments and an exam,
each counts for 20% of the final grade.
Submission of assignments is in groups of two.
The (individual) exam must be passed with a minimum grade of 5.0.
If we have reason to believe that the workload and contributions in a group are not somewhat equal, we reserve the right to conduct individual interviews. |
| Slides | Will be made available on Blackboard after each lecture. |
| Contents |
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| Assignments | The assignments will be made available on Blackboard. |
| Mailing List | The UvA mailing list PMMS2018 serves as the primary medium of communication between lecturers and participants as well as among participants themselves. Subscription to the mailing list is controlled and restricted to participants of the course. Traffic on the mailing list is archived; access to the archives is restricted to participants. Please, subscribe here. |
| Literature and Resources |
The course does not follow any specific text book.
The following list summarises a number of interesting textbooks on various
aspects of the course.
Parallel Programming in General
OpenMP
OpenACC NVidia CUDA |
Dr Clemens Grelck