Parallel programming models and their interdependence with parallel architectures

Because of its superior performance and cost-effectiveness, parallel computing will become the future standard, provided we have the appropriate programming models, tools and compilers needed to make parallel computers widely usable. The dominating programming style is procedural, given in the form of either the memory sharing or the message-passing paradigm. The advantages and disadvantages of these models and their supporting architectures are discussed, as well as the tools by which parallel programming is made machine-independent. Further improvements can be expected from very high level coordination languages. A general breakthrough of parallel computing, however, will only come with the parallelizing compiler that enable the user to program applications in the conventional sequential style. The state-of-the-art of parallelizing compilers is outlined, and it is shown how they will be supported by higher-level programming models and multi-threaded architectures