FORK: A High-Level Language for PRAMs

We present a new programming language designed to allow the convenient expression of algorithms for a parallel random access machine (PRAM). The language attempts to satisfy two potentially con icting goals: On the one hand, it should be simple and clear enough to serve as a vehicle for human-to-human communication of algorithmic ideas. On the other hand, it should be automatically translatable to e cient machine (i.e., PRAM) code, and it should allow precise statements to be made about the amount of resources (primarily time) consumed by a given program. In the sequential setting, both objectives are reasonably well met by the Algol-like languages, e.g., with the RAM as the underlying machine model, but we are not aware of any language that allows a satisfactory expression of typical PRAM algorithms. Our contribution should be seen as a modest attempt to ll this gap. Fachbereich 14 Universitat des Saarlandes Im Stadtwald 6600 Saarbrucken 1Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinsch...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1991
• Where: PARLE
• Authors: Torben Hagerup, Arno Schmitt, Helmut Seidl
• Keywords: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Distributed And Parallel Computing, Parallel Random Access Machine, PARLE 1991, Typical Pram Algorithms