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From: eugene@pioneer.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Hypercubes and second note: (Parallel processing biblio)
Message-ID: <347@ames.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 19-Feb-87 13:35:19 EST
Article-I.D.: ames.347
Posted: Thu Feb 19 13:35:19 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Feb-87 20:50:58 EST
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Reply-To: eugene@pioneer.UUCP (Eugene Miya N.)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
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Doug Pase writes:
>Hypercubes are hard to use only if you don't know anything about them, or
>about what they're good for.

I won't mince words: Hypercubes are difficult to program.  I've not seen
a parallel machine which is not difficult to program in some way.  I
know people who don't like programming vector machines, and they are by
far the best developed.  You have information management, and
communications issues in Hypercubes which do not occur in uniprocessors.
Shared memory machines are little better.  McGraw(LLNL)/Grit(CSUFC)
compare it to OS programming of applications and many would agree: you
have to deal with consistency problems, deadlock, etc.
It really depends on the structure of an application (at this time)
if it amenable to use of parallelism right now, in fact, the term "parallel"
is extremely deceiving.

>For large scale computing,
>a hypercube might actually be easier to use.
	     ^^^^^ this is a big IF.

SECOND more serious note: it is beginning to appear that the powers that
be are putting a tighter and tighter grip on my multiprocessor
bibliography.  It has not yet had a SENSITIVE classification put on it,
but I think this is a matter of time.  What this means is that it might
not be possible to distribute this outside the US anymore under penality
of law.  This includes to Allies of the US like France and England.  All
for a few bibliographic references whose titles are in the public
domain.  I will try to clear the currently pending Foreign requests, and
requests by International companies should best be done by your US
offices.  But once that SENSITIVE label is placed on it, the penalities
on me or anyone who transports it outside the US will be serious.

From the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers:

--eugene miya
  NASA Ames Research Center
  eugene@ames-aurora.ARPA
  "You trust the `reply' command with all those different mailers out there?"
  "Send mail, avoid follow-ups.  If enough, I'll summarize."
  {hplabs,hao,nike,ihnp4,decwrl,allegra,tektronix,menlo70}!ames!aurora!eugene