• Traditionally, software has been written for serial computation:
  • A problem is broken into a discrete series of instructions
  • Instructions are executed sequentially one after another
  • Executed on a single processor
  • Only one instruction may execute at any moment in time

Parallel Computing:

• In the simplest sense, parallel computing is the simultaneous use of multiple compute resources to solve a computational problem:
  • A problem is broken into discrete parts that can be solved concurrently
  • Each part is further broken down to a series of instructions
  • Instructions from each part execute simultaneously on different processors
  • An overall control/coordination mechanism is employed