C, Safety and Sanity
On the Beowulf list the semi-mythical RGB wrote an interesting digression on getting started in parallel programming:
C is like an M-1 tank armed with pocket nukes and with a built in levitation system and antimatter propulsion system — misuse it and you can blow up whole worlds, but it can solve lots of problems very quickly. Safe is a kiddy bike with training wheels — not fast, not powerful, but if you pedal long enough you can get where you want to go.
Unless you get run over by a tank, that is.
Talking about parallel programming, André Pang has a nice blog post quoting Edward A. Lee’s essay “The Problem with Threads” which investigates the problems with concurrency and non-determinism in parallel programming. Edward Lee talks about non-determinism he gives a two analogies, the best of which is the one that André picked up on:
To offer a third analogy, a folk definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and to expect the results to be different. By this definition, we in fact require that programmers of multithreaded systems be insane. Were they sane, they could not understand their programs.
I’m glad I’m not a parallel programmer.. 
March 26th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
http://tau-iota-mu-c.livejournal.com/73345.html
Nuf said.
Well that, and I can’t help but feel I went the wrong way about getting a perl script to talk to both readline and pgplot’s pgband concurrently.
But it works, and as long as I document it, I’m not getting rid of it til it breaks.
March 26th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Erm, is that entry only meant to have 3 words in it (if you count ‘n as a word) ?
March 26th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
Yep. People should go around shouting “Fork ‘n’ signals!” all day long.
Like I said. There are easier ways to induce insanity in subjects.
March 26th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
March 27th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Hi Chris and Donna,
I find myself in NZ (don’t ask) and because I am geographically close I thought I would just touch base.
Using this as a method of comms because I don’t have your proper e-mail with me.
All well. Hope you will look us up when next in UK
Love the look of Donna’s latest work.
Let me know how you are - if you have a mo.
Rog
March 30th, 2007 at 1:31 am
“I’m glad I’m not a parallel programmer.. ”
Me too; burble; fnurt.
March 31st, 2007 at 10:58 am
Hi Roger, did reply via email a few days ago, hope you got it!
March 31st, 2007 at 10:59 am
Rich “I knew what you did last thesis..” Boakes - are you sure ?