4.3.4 Existing Parallel Software
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4.3.4 Existing Parallel Software

Although multicore CPUs seem to have taken the computing industry by surprise, the fact remains that shared-memory parallel computer systems have been commercially available for more than a quarter century. This is more than enough time for significant parallel software to make its appearance, and it indeed has. Parallel operating systems are quite commonplace, as are parallel threading libraries, parallel relational database management systems, and parallel numerical software. Using existing parallel software goes a long ways towards solving any parallel-software crisis we might encounter.

Perhaps the most common example is the parallel relational database management system. It is not unusual for single-threaded programs, often written in high-level scripting languages, to access a central relational database concurrently. In the resulting highly parallel system, only the database need actually deal directly with parallelism. A very nice trick when it works!