GABB Introduction

The Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (BLAS), introduced over 30 years ago, had a transformative effect on linear algebra. By building Linear Algebra algorithms from a common set of highly optimized building blocks, researchers spend less time mapping algorithms onto specific hardware features and more time on interesting new algorithms. Could the same transformation occur for Graph algorithms? Can Graph algorithm researchers converge around a core set of building blocks so we can focus more on algorithms and less on mapping software onto hardware? Graph Algorithms Building Blocks workshop (GAB´14) will address these questions. The workshop will open with a pair of talks that define a candidate set of graph algorithm building blocks that we call the “Graph BLAS”. With this context established, the reamining talks explore issues raised by these Graph BLAS, suggest alternative sets of low level building blocks, and finally consider lessons learned from past standards efforts. We will close with an interactive panel about our collective quest to standardize a set of core graph algorithm building blocks.