Parallel computing and JLink
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg94206] Parallel computing and JLink
- From: mark mcclure <mcmcclur at unca.edu>
- Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2008 05:42:56 -0500 (EST)
Jon Harrop makes an interesting point in this post: http://forums.wolfram.com/mathgroup/archive/2008/Dec/msg00102.html If we need to optimize code so much that we are willing to parallelize it (which can be quite tricky), then why wouldn't we use optimized C or Fortran code? In fact, this very logic persuaded me against purchasing Grid Mathematica, even though I had potential access to a cluster. Now that parallel tools are incorporated into every copy of Mathematica, however, why not use it. In fact, it's quite likely that people will come up with many novel ideas. Here's one proposal: use Mathematica together with JLink to coordinate Java programs running in parallel. (Of course, mathlink and C would work as well.) In this scenario, Mathematica becomes much more than just a master program coordinating a few Java slaves, because any data generated by the Java programs becomes immediately available to Mathematica. A natural application is Mandelbrot or Julia set generation. I set up a notebook/webpage illustrating this. You can see it here: http://facstaff.unca.edu/mcmcclur/Mathematica/ParallelJLink/ Since there are a few difficulties and traps, I set up as carefully as I could and included a fair amount of explanation. Mark McClure
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