Difference between revisions of "CSC352 Syllabus 2013"
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=Introduction= | =Introduction= | ||
| − | Parallel and Distributed Processing (formally Parallel Processing) is a seminar mixing theory and | + | Parallel and Distributed Processing (formally Parallel Processing) is a seminar mixing '''theory''', '''programming''' and '''research'''. It explores the issues facing today's programmers in need of process data existing in either a large volume, or distributed over a network (local or the Internet). |
| − | The course this semester | + | The course this semester focuses on a research problem and attempting to formulate a solution or an ''approach'' for it. The problem is to take a large collection of images (possibly several million images) and to create a ''visualization'' of these images in a way that will enhance some pattern or properties attached to the images. This property could be some quantity linked to the popularity of images as viewed by visitors, or the frequency with which they are used, or the date when they were introduced in the collection, the date of last time an image was viewed, etc... |
| + | |||
| + | The goal of the seminar is to understand how to devise solutions for the various tasks required to process, catalog, sort, and display such a large amount of data. In the process we will investigate various parallel computing tools, and test different approaches to solve this problem in an acceptable time (minutes or hours rather than days or years of computation!). | ||
The class mixes lectures, the reading and presentation of research papers, and programming assignments/projects. | The class mixes lectures, the reading and presentation of research papers, and programming assignments/projects. | ||
| − | + | The topics planned for the semester include (but are not limited to): | |
| − | + | * An exploration of how artists have displayed collection of images in the art world, with one or more visits to the SCMA. | |
| − | + | * Using Latex to write scientific research papers. | |
| + | * Investigating the various types of parallel computers and parallel ''architectures''. | ||
| + | * Learning about the different programming patterns for parallel programs. | ||
| + | * Exploring ''data-sharing'' programming with '''Java threads''', and how to avoid data inconsistency and ''deadlocks'' with ''mutexes'', ''locks'' and ''semaphores''. | ||
| + | * Exploring the ''message-passing'' paradigm with '''MPI'''. There will be a quick introduction to '''C''' before using it with MPI. | ||
| + | * Exploring the world of ''cloud computing'' with the ''Map-Reduce'' approach to process large amounts of data on large clusters of servers. The infrastructure used will be ''Hadoop'', and the programming in ''Java''. | ||
| − | The goal of the | + | A group project will cap the end of the semester. The goal of the project will be to address one of the many tasks discovered during the semester for visualizing the collection of images, generating a parallel approach for it, and comparing its performance to the current state of the art, and reporting the results in a research paper. |
=Newsletter= | =Newsletter= | ||
| Line 41: | Line 48: | ||
=Homework assignments/Projects= | =Homework assignments/Projects= | ||
| − | There will be homework assignments and a project. The homework assignments will contribute to the advancement of the project. | + | There will be homework assignments and a project. The homework assignments will contribute to the advancement of the overall project. |
=Smith Cloud= | =Smith Cloud= | ||
| − | We will use different computer clusters available on campus. More | + | We will use different computer clusters available on campus. More information will be released as the course progresses. |
=Presentations= | =Presentations= | ||
| Line 53: | Line 60: | ||
<!--For the presenters, the following [http://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~newhall/presentation.html page] from Prof. Tia Newall of Swarthmore College for good advice on preparing a presentation.--> | <!--For the presenters, the following [http://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~newhall/presentation.html page] from Prof. Tia Newall of Swarthmore College for good advice on preparing a presentation.--> | ||
| − | Whenever a paper is scheduled for presentation or discussion, everybody not presenting the paper | + | Whenever a paper is scheduled for presentation or discussion, everybody not presenting the paper will be responsible for handing out at the beginning of the class a one-page summary of the paper, formatted in Latex. |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
=Prerequisites= | =Prerequisites= | ||
| Line 64: | Line 68: | ||
=Schedule= | =Schedule= | ||
| − | The class meets twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:50 p.m., in Ford Hall 345. | + | The class meets twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:50 p.m., in '''Ford Hall 345'''. |
=Textbook= | =Textbook= | ||
Revision as of 15:04, 26 August 2013
--D. Thiebaut (talk) 10:55, 9 August 2013 (EDT)
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Prof
Dominique Thiébaut (dthiebaut at smith.edu)
Dept. Computer Science
Ford Hall 356
Telephone: 3854
Office hours TBA and by appointments
Introduction
Parallel and Distributed Processing (formally Parallel Processing) is a seminar mixing theory, programming and research. It explores the issues facing today's programmers in need of process data existing in either a large volume, or distributed over a network (local or the Internet).
The course this semester focuses on a research problem and attempting to formulate a solution or an approach for it. The problem is to take a large collection of images (possibly several million images) and to create a visualization of these images in a way that will enhance some pattern or properties attached to the images. This property could be some quantity linked to the popularity of images as viewed by visitors, or the frequency with which they are used, or the date when they were introduced in the collection, the date of last time an image was viewed, etc...
The goal of the seminar is to understand how to devise solutions for the various tasks required to process, catalog, sort, and display such a large amount of data. In the process we will investigate various parallel computing tools, and test different approaches to solve this problem in an acceptable time (minutes or hours rather than days or years of computation!).
The class mixes lectures, the reading and presentation of research papers, and programming assignments/projects.
The topics planned for the semester include (but are not limited to):
- An exploration of how artists have displayed collection of images in the art world, with one or more visits to the SCMA.
- Using Latex to write scientific research papers.
- Investigating the various types of parallel computers and parallel architectures.
- Learning about the different programming patterns for parallel programs.
- Exploring data-sharing programming with Java threads, and how to avoid data inconsistency and deadlocks with mutexes, locks and semaphores.
- Exploring the message-passing paradigm with MPI. There will be a quick introduction to C before using it with MPI.
- Exploring the world of cloud computing with the Map-Reduce approach to process large amounts of data on large clusters of servers. The infrastructure used will be Hadoop, and the programming in Java.
A group project will cap the end of the semester. The goal of the project will be to address one of the many tasks discovered during the semester for visualizing the collection of images, generating a parallel approach for it, and comparing its performance to the current state of the art, and reporting the results in a research paper.
Newsletter
Everybody will be responsible for generating a 2-page newsletter every other week.
Homework assignments/Projects
There will be homework assignments and a project. The homework assignments will contribute to the advancement of the overall project.
Smith Cloud
We will use different computer clusters available on campus. More information will be released as the course progresses.
Presentations
We'll read, present and discuss papers during the semester. Papers will be posted on the Links & Resources page. More information will be available as we proceed through the semester.
Whenever a paper is scheduled for presentation or discussion, everybody not presenting the paper will be responsible for handing out at the beginning of the class a one-page summary of the paper, formatted in Latex.
Prerequisites
Algorithms CSC252, or permission of the instructor. A good knowledge of Java is important.
Schedule
The class meets twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:50 p.m., in Ford Hall 345.
Textbook
There are no textbooks for this course. The Web has a rich collection of documents we'll be using and which are catalogued in the Links & Resources page.
Other Sources of Material
The science library has a good collection of books on parallel processing and algorithms that you might find useful for supplementing the material presented and covered in class. "Parallel algorithm", "Parallel Programming," or "Grid Computing" are good keywords to start a search on.
Lateness Policy
No late assignment/paper summariy/project will be accepted (except in case of documented illness or personal difficulties). Do your work on time!
You can, however, drop any one homework assignment and any one reading assignment without penalty. If you do not drop any assignment and do not drop any assigned reading, I will remove the ones with the lowest grade automatically.
Grading
|
Class participation (summaries, class notes, discussion) |
10% |
Teaching Assistants
No TA for this class.
