Building Parallel Applications Using Design Patterns

Parallel application design and development is a major area of interest in the domain of high-performance scientific and industrial computing. In fact, parallel computing is becoming an integral part in several major application domains such as space, medicine, cancer and genetic research, graphics and animation, image processing, to name a few. With the advent of fast interconnecting networks of workstations and PCs, it is now becoming increasingly possible to develop high-performance parallel applications using the combined computing powers of these networked resources, at no extra cost. Contrast this to the situation until the early 90s, where parallel computing was mostly confined only to special-purpose parallel computers that were unaffordable by small research institutions. Nowadays, high-speed networks and fast general-purpose computers are aiding in the mainstream adoption of parallel computing at a much more affordable cost.