A parallel-programming process model

Abstract

A process model is presented for constructing and executing parallel programs on a shared-memory multiprocessor running under Unix. The model involves some simple extensions to the standard Unix process model, a set of language extensions, runtime library support, and additional operating-system support. The model is easy to use, and it supports several higher-level parallel programming constructs in several languages, including microtasking in C and Fortran and multitasking in Ada and C++. It frees programmers to concentrate on parallel algorithms instead of low-level implementation details, and it yields good performance.<>