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edX site | Autograder Guide |
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Instructor: | Mackale Joyner, DH 2063 | TAs: |
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| Raahim Absar, TJ Li | |
Piazza site: |
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Piazza site:
/comp322 (Piazza is the preferred medium for all course communications) | Cross-listing: | ELEC 323 |
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Lecture location: |
Herzstein Amp | Lecture times: | MWF 1: |
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00pm - |
1: |
50pm |
Lab |
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location: |
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Brockman 101 | Lab |
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time: |
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Mon 3: |
00pm - |
Th 4:50pm - 5:45pm (XW, TR, KP, YW, FW, EA)
3:50pm |
A summary PDF file containing the course syllabus for the course can be found here. Much of the syllabus information is also included below in this course web site, along with some additional details that are not included in the syllabus.
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The desired learning outcomes fall into three major areas (course modules):
1) Parallelism: functional programming, Java streams, creation and coordination of parallelism (async, finish), abstract performance metrics (work, critical paths), Amdahl's Law, weak vs. strong scaling, data races and determinism, data race avoidance (immutability, futures, accumulators, dataflow), deadlock avoidance, abstract vs. real performance (granularity, scalability), collective & point-to-point synchronization (phasers, barriers), parallel algorithms, systolic algorithms.
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3) Locality & Distribution: memory hierarchies, locality, cache affinity, data movement, message-passing (MPI), communication overheads (bandwidth, latency), MapReduce, accelerators, GPGPUs, CUDA, OpenCL.
To achieve these learning outcomes, each class period will include time for both instructor lectures and in-class exercises based on assigned reading and videos. The lab exercises will be used to help students gain hands-on programming experience with the concepts introduced in the lectures.
To ensure that students gain a strong knowledge of parallel programming foundations, the classes and homeworks homework will place equal emphasis on both theory and practice. The programming component of the course will mostly use the Habanero-Java Library (HJ-lib) pedagogic extension to the Java language developed in the Habanero Extreme Scale Software Research project at Rice University. The course will also introduce you to real-world parallel programming models including Java Concurrency, MapReduce, MPI, OpenCL and CUDA. An . An important goal is that, at the end of COMP 322, you should feel comfortable programming in any parallel language for which you are familiar with the underlying sequential language (Java or C). Any parallel programming primitives that you encounter in the future should be easily recognizable based on the fundamentals studied in COMP 322.
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There are no required textbooks for the class. Instead, lecture handouts are provided for each module as follows. You are expected to read the relevant sections in each lecture handout before coming to the lecture. We will also provide a number of references in the slides and handouts.The links to the latest versions of the lecture handouts are included below:
There
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There are also a few optional textbooks that we will draw from during the course. You are encouraged to get copies of any or all of these books. They will serve as useful references both during and after this course:
Finally, here are some additional resources that may be helpful for you:
Week | Day | Date (2025 |
|---|
Week
Day
) | Lecture | Assigned Reading | Assigned Videos (see Canvas site for video links) | In-class Worksheets | Slides | Work Assigned | Work Due |
|---|
| Worksheet Solutions | ||
|---|---|---|
1 | Mon | Jan |
13 | Lecture 1: |
Introduction |
| worksheet1 | lec1- |
Wed
Jan 27
Lecture 2: Computation Graphs, Ideal Parallelism
2
Mon
Feb 01
Lecture 4: Parallel Speedup and Amdahl's Law
Wed
Feb 03
Fri
Feb 05
Lecture 6: Finish Accumulators
Lecture 7: Map Reduce
Wed
Feb 10
Lecture 8: Data Races, Functional & Structural Determinism
Fri
Feb 12
Lecture 9: Java’s Fork/Join Library
4
Mon
Feb 22
| slides | WS1-solution | ||||||||||
Wed | Jan 15 | Lecture 2: Functional Programming | worksheet2 | lec02-slides | WS2-solution | ||||||
| Fri | Jan 17 | Lecture 3: Higher order functions | worksheet3 | lec3-slides | WS3-solution | ||||||
2 | Mon | Jan 20 | No class: MLK | ||||||||
Wed | Jan 22 | Lecture 4: Lazy Computation | worksheet4 | lec4-slides | WS4-solution | ||||||
Fri | Jan 24 | Lecture 5: Java Streams | worksheet5 | lec5-slides | Homework 1 | WS5-solution | |||||
| 3 | Mon | Jan 27 | Lecture 6: Map Reduce with Java Streams | Module 1: Section 2.4 | Topic 2.4 Lecture, Topic 2.4 Demonstration | worksheet6 | lec6-slides | WS6-solution | |||
Wed | Jan 29 | Lecture 7: Futures | Module 1: Section 2.1 | Topic 2.1 Lecture , Topic 2.1 Demonstration | worksheet7 | lec7-slides | WS7-solution | ||||
Fri | Jan 31 | Lecture 8: Async, Finish, Computation Graphs | Module 1: Sections 1.1, 1.2 | Topic 1.1 Lecture, Topic 1.1 Demonstration, Topic 1.2 Lecture, Topic 1.2 Demonstration | worksheet8 | lec8-slides | WS8-solution | ||||
4 | Mon | Feb 03 | Lecture 9: Ideal Parallelism, Data-Driven Tasks | Module 1: Section 1.3, 4.5 | Topic 1.3 Lecture, Topic 1.3 Demonstration, Topic 4.5 Lecture, Topic 4.5 Demonstration | worksheet9 | lec9-slides | WS9-solution | |||
| Wed | Feb 05 | Lecture 10: Event-based programming model | worksheet10 | lec10-slides | Homework 1 | WS10-solution | |||||
| Fri | Feb 07 | Lecture 11: GUI programming, Scheduling/executing computation graphs | Module 1: Section 1.4 | Topic 1.4 Lecture , Topic 1.4 Demonstration | worksheet11 | lec11-slides | Homework 2 | WS11-solution | |||
| 5 | Mon | Feb 10 | Lecture 12: Abstract performance metrics, Parallel Speedup, Amdahl's Law | Module 1: Section 1.5 | Topic 1.5 Lecture , Topic 1.5 Demonstration | worksheet12 | lec12-slides | WS12-solution | |||
Wed | Feb 12 | Lecture 13: Accumulation and reduction. Finish accumulators | Module 1: Section 2.3 | Topic 2.3 Lecture Topic 2.3 Demonstration | worksheet13 | lec13-slides | WS13-solution | ||||
Fri | Feb 14 | No class: Spring Recess | |||||||||
| 6 | Mon | Feb 17 | Lecture 14: Data Races, Functional & Structural Determinism | Module 1: Sections 2.5, 2.6 | Topic 2.5 Lecture , Topic 2.5 Demonstration, Topic 2.6 Lecture, Topic 2.6 Demonstration | worksheet14 | lec14-slides | WS14-solution | |||
Wed | Feb 19 | Lecture 15: Limitations of Functional parallelism. | worksheet15 | lec15-slides | Homework 2 | WS15-solution | |||||
| Fri | Feb 21 | Lecture 16: Recursive Task Parallelism | worksheet16 | lec16-slides | Homework 3 | WS16-solution | |||||
7 | Mon | Feb 24 | Lecture 17: Midterm Review | lec17-slides | |||||||
Wed | Feb 26 | Lecture 18: Midterm Review | lec18-slides | ||||||||
Fri | Feb 28 | Lecture 19: Fork/Join programming model | Topic 2.7 Lecture, Topic 2.7 Demonstration, Topic 2.8 Lecture, Topic 2.8 Demonstration | worksheet19 | lec19-slides | WS19-solution | |||||
8 | Mon | Mar 03 | Lecture 20: Data-Parallel Programming model. Loop-Level Parallelism, Loop Chunking |
| Module 1: Sections 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 | Topic 3.1 Lecture, Topic 3.1 Demonstration , Topic 3.2 Lecture, Topic 3.2 Demonstration, Topic 3.3 Lecture, Topic 3. |
| 3 Demonstration |
| worksheet20 |
| lec20-slides |
| WS20-solution | |||
Wed | Mar 05 | Lecture 21: Barrier Synchronization with Phasers |
Wed
Feb 24
| Module 1: Sections 3. |
| 4 |
| Topic 3.4 Lecture |
| , |
| Topic 3.4 Demonstration |
| worksheet21 |
Fri
Feb 26
Lecture 12: Data-Driven Tasks
| lec21-slides |
| WS21-solution | |||
Fri | Mar 07 | Lecture 22:Stencil computation. Point-to-point Synchronization with Phasers |
Module 1: Sections 4. |
2, 4.3 | Topic 4.2 Lecture, Topic 4.2 Demonstration, |
| Topic 4. |
| 3 Lecture |
| , Topic 4. |
| 3 Demonstration |
| worksheet22 |
| lec22-slides |
| WS22-solution | |||
9 |
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Mon | Mar |
Spring "Sprinkle" Day (no class)
Wed
Lecture 13: Parallelism in Java Streams, Parallel Prefix Sums
10 | Lecture 23: Fuzzy Barriers with Phasers | Module 1: Section 4.1 | Topic 4.1 Lecture, Topic 4.1 Demonstration | worksheet23 | lec23 |
| -slides | Homework 3 ( |
CP 1) |
Lecture 14: Iterative Averaging Revisited, SPMD pattern
7
Mon
Mar 08
Lecture 15: Point-to-point Synchronization with Phasers
Wed
Mar 10
Lecture 16: Midterm Review
Fri
Lecture 17: Pipeline Parallelism, Signal Statement, Fuzzy Barriers
8
Mon
Mar 15
Lecture 18: Abstract vs. Real Performance
Wed
Mar 17
Lecture 19: Critical Sections, Isolated construct (start of Module 2)
Fri
Mar 19
Lecture 20: Parallel Spanning Tree algorithm, Atomic variables
Quiz for Unit 4
9
Mon
Mar 22
Lecture 21: Actors
Topic 6.1 Lecture , Topic 6.1 Demonstration , Topic 6.2 Lecture, Topic 6.2 Demonstration
Wed
Mar 24
Lecture 22: Actors (contd)
Homework 3, Checkpoint-1
Fri
Mar 26
Mon
Lecture 23: Actors (contd)
Quiz for Unit 5
Quiz for Unit 6
Fri
Apr 02
Lecture 25: Java Threads, Java synchronized statement (contd), wait/notify
11
Mon
Apr 05
Lecture 26: TBD
Wed
Apr 07
Lecture 27: Java Locks
Fri
Apr 09
Lecture 28: Linearizability of Concurrent Objects
12
Mon
Apr 12
Lecture 30: Safety and Liveness Properties, Java Synchronizers, Dining Philosophers Problem
Quiz for Unit 7
Quiz for Unit 6
Wed
Apr 14
Lecture 31: Message Passing Interface (MPI), (start of Module 3)
Fri
Apr 16
Lecture 32: Message Passing Interface (MPI, contd)
Quiz for Unit 7
13
Mon
Apr 19
Lecture 33: Message Passing Interface (MPI, contd)
Homework 4 Checkpoint-1
Wed
Apr 21
Lecture 34: Task Affinity with Places
lec34-slides
Quiz for Unit 8
Fri
Apr 23
Lecture 35: Eureka-style Speculative Task Parallelism
14
Mon
Apr 26
| WS23-solution | |||||||||||
Wed | Mar 12 | Lecture 24: Confinement & Monitor Pattern. Critical sections | Module 2: Sections 5.1, 5.2 | Topic 5.1 Lecture, Topic 5.1 Demonstration, Topic 5.2 Lecture, Topic 5.2 Demonstration, Topic 5.6 Lecture, Topic 5.6 Demonstration | worksheet24 | lec24-slides | WS24-solution | ||||
Fri | Mar 14 | Lecture 25: Atomic variables, Synchronized statements | Module 2: Sections 5.4, 7.2 | Topic 5.4 Lecture, Topic 5.4 Demonstration, Topic 7.2 Lecture | worksheet25 | lec25-slides | WS25-solution | ||||
Mon | Mar 17 | No class: Spring Break | |||||||||
| Wed | Mar 19 | No class: Spring Break | |||||||||
Fri | Mar 21 | No class: Spring Break | |||||||||
10 | Mon | Mar 24 | Lecture 26: Java Threads and Locks | Module 2: Sections 7.1, 7.3 | Topic 7.1 Lecture, Topic 7.3 Lecture | worksheet26 | lec26-slides | WS26-solution | |||
Wed | Mar 26 | Lecture 27: Read-Write Locks, Soundness and progress guarantees | Module 2: Section 7.3 | Topic 7.3 Lecture, Topic 7.5 Lecture | worksheet27 | lec27-slides | Homework 3 (CP 2) | WS27-solution | |||
Fri | Mar 28 | Lecture 28: Dining Philosophers Problem | Topic 7.6 Lecture | worksheet28 | lec28-slides | WS28-solution | |||||
11 | Mon | Mar 31 | Lecture 29: Linearizability of Concurrent Objects | Module 2: Sections 7.4 | Topic 7.4 Lecture | worksheet29 | lec29-slides | WS29-solution | |||
Wed | Apr 02 | Lecture 30: Parallel Spanning Tree, other graph algorithms | worksheet30 | lec30-slides | WS30-solution | ||||||
Fri | Apr 04 | No class | |||||||||
12 | Mon | Apr 07 | Lecture 31: Message-Passing programming model with Actors | Module 2: Sections 6.1, 6.2 | Topic 6.1 Lecture, Topic 6.1 Demonstration, Topic 6.2 Lecture, Topic 6.2 Demonstration | worksheet31 | lec31-slides | WS31-solution | |||
Wed | Apr 09 | Lecture 32: Active Object Pattern. Combining Actors with task parallelism | Module 2: Sections 6.3, 6.4 | Topic 6.3 Lecture, Topic 6.3 Demonstration, Topic 6.4 Lecture, Topic 6.4 Demonstration | worksheet32 | lec32-slides | Homework 4 | Homework 3 (All) | WS32-solution | ||
Fri | Apr 11 | Lecture 33: Task Affinity and locality. Memory hierarchy | worksheet33 | lec33-slides | WS33-solution | ||||||
13 | Mon | Apr 14 | Lecture 34: Eureka-style Speculative Task Parallelism | worksheet34 | lec34-slides | WS34-solution | |||||
| Wed | Apr 16 | Lecture 35: Scan Pattern. Parallel Prefix Sum | worksheet35 | lec35-slides | Homework 4 (CP 1) | WS35-solution | |||||
| Fri | Apr 18 | Lecture 36: Scan Pattern. Parallel Prefix Sum cont. | lec36-slides | ||||||||
| 14 | Mon | Apr 21 | Lecture 37: Parallel Prefix Sum applications | worksheet37 | lec37-slides | WS37-solution | |||||
| Wed | Apr 23 | Lecture 38: Course Review (Lectures 19-34) | lec38-slides | Homework 4 (All) | |||||||
| Fri | Apr 25 | Lecture 39: Course Review (Lectures 19-34) | lec39-slides |
Lab # | Date (2025) | Topic | Handouts | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jan 13 | Infrastructure setup | lab0-handout lab1-handout | |
| - | Jan 20 | No lab this week (MLK) | ||
| 2 | Jan 27 | Functional Programming | lab2-handout | |
3 | Feb 03 | Futures | lab3-handout | |
| 4 | Feb 10 | Data-Driven Tasks | lab4-handout | |
- | Feb 17 | No lab this week | ||
| - | Feb 24 | No lab this week (Midterm Exam) | ||
| 5 | Mar 03 | Loop Parallelism | lab5-handout | image kernels |
| 6 | Mar 10 | Recursive Task Cutoff Strategy | lab6-handout | |
| - | Mar 17 | No lab this week (Spring Break) | ||
| 7 | Mar 24 | Java Threads | lab7-handout | |
| - | Mar 31 | No lab this week | ||
| 8 | Apr 07 | Concurrent Lists | lab8-handout | |
| 9 | Apr 14 | Actors | lab9-handout | |
- | Apr 21 | No lab this week |
Lab #
Date (2021)
Topic
Handouts
Examples
1
Jan 26
Async-Finish Parallel Programming with abstract metrics
2
Feb 09
Futures
3
Feb 23
Cutoff Strategy and Real World Performance
Mar 02
DDFs
Mar 09
No lab this week (Midterm exam)
6
Mar 30
Isolated Statement and Atomic Variables
Java Threads, Java Locks
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Message Passing Interface (MPI)
-
Apache Spark
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Eureka-style Speculative Task Parallelism
Java's ForkJoin Framework
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Labs must be submitted by the following Monday at 11:59pmFriday at 4pm. Labs must be checked off by a TA.
Worksheets should be completed by the deadline listed in Canvas before the start of the following class (for full credit) so that solutions to the worksheets can be discussed in the next class.
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