Topics in Parallel and Distributed Computing provides resources and guidance for those learning PDC as well as those teaching students new to the discipline. The pervasiveness of computing devices containing multicore CPUs and GPUs, including home and office PCs, laptops, and mobile devices, is making even common users dependent on parallel processing. Certainly, it is no longer sufficient for even basic programmers to acquire only the traditional sequential programming skills. The preceding trends point to the need for imparting a broad-based skill set in PDC technology. However, the rapid changes in computing hardware platforms and devices, languages, supporting programming environments, and research advances, poses a challenge both for newcomers and seasoned computer scientists. This edited collection has been developed over the past several years in conjunction with the IEEE technical committee on parallel processing (TCPP), which held several workshops and discussions on learning parallel computing and integrating parallel concepts into courses throughout computer science curricula.

This book introduces beginning undergraduate students of computing and computational disciplines to modern parallel and distributed programming languages and environments, including map-reduce, general-purpose graphics processing units (GPUs), and graphical user interfaces (GUI) for mobile applications. The book also guides instructors via selected essays on what and how to introduce parallel and distributed computing topics into the undergraduate curricula, including quality criteria for parallel algorithms and programs, scalability, parallel performance, fault tolerance, and energy efficiency analysis. The chapters designed for students serve as supplemental textual material for early computing core courses, which students can use for learning and exercises. The illustrations, examples, and sequences of smaller steps to build larger concepts are also tools that could be inserted into existing instructor material. The chapters intended for instructors are written at a teaching level and serve as a rigorous reference to include learning goals, advice on presentation and use of the material, within early and advanced undergraduate courses. Since Parallel and Distributed Computing (PDC) now permeates most computing activities, imparting a broad-based skill set in PDC technology at various levels in the undergraduate educational fabric woven by Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) programs as well as related computational disciplines has become essential. This book and others in this series aim to address the need for lack of suitable textbook support for integrating PDC-related topics into undergraduate courses, especially in the early curriculum. The chapters are aligned with the curricular guidelines promulgated by the NSF/IEEE-TCPP Curriculum Initiative on Parallel and Distributed Computing for CS and CE students and with the CS2013 ACM/IEEE Computer Science Curricula.

This book introduces beginning undergraduate students of computing and computational disciplines to modern parallel and distributed programming languages and environments, including map-reduce, general-purpose graphics processing units (GPUs), and graphical user interfaces (GUI) for mobile applications. The book also guides instructors via selected essays on what and how to introduce parallel and distributed computing topics into the undergraduate curricula, including quality criteria for parallel algorithms and programs, scalability, parallel performance, fault tolerance, and energy efficiency analysis. The chapters designed for students serve as supplemental textual material for early computing core courses, which students can use for learning and exercises. The illustrations, examples, and sequences of smaller steps to build larger concepts are also tools that could be inserted into existing instructor material. The chapters intended for instructors are written at a teaching level and serve as a rigorous reference to include learning goals, advice on presentation and use of the material, within early and advanced undergraduate courses. Since Parallel and Distributed Computing (PDC) now permeates most computing activities, imparting a broad-based skill set in PDC technology at various levels in the undergraduate educational fabric woven by Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) programs as well as related computational disciplines has become essential. This book and others in this series aim to address the need for lack of suitable textbook support for integrating PDC-related topics into undergraduate courses, especially in the early curriculum. The chapters are aligned with the curricular guidelines promulgated by the NSF/IEEE-TCPP Curriculum Initiative on Parallel and Distributed Computing for CS and CE students and with the CS2013 ACM/IEEE Computer Science Curricula.