Expert Programmer versus Parallelizing Compiler: A Comparative Study of Two Approaches for Distributed Shared Memory

This paper critically examines current parallel programming practice and optimising compiler development. The general strategies employed by compiler and programmer to optimise a Fortran program are described, and then illustrated for a speciic case by applying them to a well known scientiic program, TRED2, using the KSR-1 as the target architecture. Extensive measurement is applied to the resulting versions of the program, which are compared with a version produced by a commercial optimising compiler, KAP. The compiler strategy signiicantly outper-forms KAP, and does not fall far short of the performance achieved by the programmer. Following the experimental section each approach is critiqued by the other. Perceived aws, advantages and common ground are outlined, with an eye to improving both schemes.