Parallel and High Performance Computing

5 Parallel algorithms and patterns

This chapter covers

• What parallel algorithms and patterns are and their importance
• How to compare the performance of different algorithms
• What distinguishes parallel algorithms from other algorithms

Algorithms are at the core of computational science. Along with data structures, covered in the previous chapter, algorithms form the basis of all computational applications. For this reason, it is important to give careful thought to the key algorithms in your code. To begin, let’s define what we mean by parallel algorithms and parallel patterns.

• A parallel algorithm is a well-defined, step-by-step computational procedure that emphasizes concurrency to solve a problem. Examples of algorithms include sorting, ...