Parallel Processing?

[Ernst0]

Parallel Processing?

I have read about Parallel Processing and I see that GCC mentions it has the ability to do it.
I believe I should learn to use more than one core.

Can someone tell me what I am looking for as to learning to use GCC in a Parallel way?

I do alright with C. Mostly I write data encoding programs and I believe I can make use of being able to have a program do more than one thing at a time such as process blocks of data for example. That would speed things up a lot.



Ernst

[GTAero]

built into gcc is openMP, which allows you to do parallel programming on a single computer, also installable in fedora is MPI, which you can use to program to multiple computers if you have them (there are two versions, openMPI and MPICH2, i prefer MPICH2, but there is no difference as far as programming to one or the other). These are libraries you can use in C/C++, so you're already over half way there just with being good with C.

I'd suggest learning openMP first, as it is easier. you can find some decent tutorials for these online with a quick search. There are also some good books written on both if you feel the need to go that route. A lot of what you will get with a book versus a website is a good book will talk about how to write your code to best execute in parallel, not just what the functions are and when to use them.

good luck - parallel programming can take a bit of practice to get good at, but if you stick with it, it is a great skill to have.

[diamond_ramsey]

A big +1 for openMP and a system with resources able to conduct parallel computing operations.

[Ernst0]

Outstanding !

I had a quad-core now have the 8-core. I see from reading that it is time for us all to advance our skills.

Okay then what a great site and great friends.

Thanks


Ernst