Parallel Programming with Microsoft Visual C++

Updated Wiki: Documentation

AdeMiller — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 03:53:04 GMT

The samples here are described in the book. There isn't really any documentation in addition to this. If you find bugs or other issues with the samples please use the Issue Tracker. If you find errors in the book text please submit it to the O'Reilly Errata page.

Closed Issue: Book Errata [573]

AdeMiller — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 03:47:47 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.
 
Added as comments below...

Comments:

All these comments have been moved to the errata page on O'Reilly's site.

http://www.oreillynet.com/oreilly/authors/errata.csp?b=0790145310507

Source code checked in, #16392

Project Collection Service Accounts — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:28:03 GMT

Upgrade: New Version of LabDefaultTemplate.xaml. To upgrade your build definitions, please visit the following link: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=254563

Source code checked in, #16391

Project Collection Service Accounts — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:26:15 GMT

Checked in by server upgrade

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

Niels_Dekker — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:17:59 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: Niels_Dekker **

Chapter 4, Parallel Aggregation (msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg663540.aspx) page 46 ends with:

combinable<int> count([]() { return 0; });

I think it's worth noting that the default-constructor of combinable<int> also takes care of having its thread-private (local) values zero-initialized. So in this case, it's not really necessary to explicitly specify an initialization function; the following also does the job:

combinable<int> count; // Default constructed.

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

Niels_Dekker — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:44:48 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: Niels_Dekker **

Chapter 2, Parallel Loops, p15 (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg663527.aspx) says: 'replace the for_each keyword with a call to the parallel_for_each method'. However, 'for_each' is not a keyword. (At least, not according the C++ Standard.) So instead, I would suggest: 'replace the for_each call with a call to the parallel_for_each method'.

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

Niels_Dekker — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:15:18 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: Niels_Dekker **

Chapter 2, Parallel Loops, shows four calls to Concurrency::parallel_for<_Index_type,_Function>, each of them having an unsigned int ('0u') as first argument, and either a size_t or a vector::size_type as second argument. This causes compile errors when the target platform is x64:

error C2782: 'void Concurrency::parallel_for(_Index_type,_Index_type,const _Function &)' : template parameter '_Index_type' is ambiguous

I would suggest to explicitly specify the first template argument:
Find what: 'parallel_for(0u'
Replace with: 'parallel_for<size_t>(0u'

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

jsh003guardz63 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:22:27 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: jsh003guardz63 **

Page 91 - given the text about CreateSentencesAgent, it's odd that the corresponding code block is not shown on this page.

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

jsh003guardz63 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:20:17 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: jsh003guardz63 **

The explanation of performance characteristics of pipelines on p96 needs clarification and possibly correction.

In particular, “If there are enough available cores, and if all stages of a pipeline take an equal amount of time, the execution time for the pipeline as a whole is the same as the time for just one stage”, would appear to be incorrect.

If:
S = the number of stages in figure 4 (= 4)
N = the number of images in figure 4 (= 6)
T = the duration to process one stage for one image (= t1 - t0 = t2 – t1)
Then:
The elapsed time for a completely parallel and completely efficient pipeline is (S+N-1) * T.
The elapsed time taken for one stage = N * T.
But:
(S+N-1) x T is only equal to N * T when S = 1.

If the sidebar on p96 is referring to the case where S = 1, the phrasing of that sidebar needs changing, as it currently implies that (S+N-1) x T = N * T for any S. If the sidebar isn't referring to the case where S = 1, it needs re-wording as its intended meaning is unclear and/or incorrect. Possibly, it's trying to say that each core has an equal execution time, but I don't think that's the intended meaning... it’s hard to be sure what it is trying to say.

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

jsh003guardz63 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:17:21 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: jsh003guardz63 **

Minor typo – page 115. “use patterns” should be “usage patterns” or “patterns of use”.

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

jsh003guardz63 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:14:49 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: jsh003guardz63 **

Page 120 – “could cause bugs” is incorrect. This “is a defect in the design and/or implementation” or “might result in unintended behaviour”, but it doesn’t “cause bugs”.

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

jsh003guardz63 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:10:48 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: jsh003guardz63 **

Minor typo - page 131. "proved by the Concurrency Runtime" should be "provided by the Concurrency Runtime ".

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

jsh003guardz63 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:09:50 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: jsh003guardz63 **

Minor typo - page 72. "that implied data flow" should be "than implied data flow".

Reviewed: Book Companion Release 1.0 (Jun 16, 2011)

smartljb — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:41:57 GMT

Rated 3 Stars (out of 5) - first time in here

Commented Issue: Book Errata [573]

AdeMiller — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:42:55 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...
Comments: ** Comment from web user: AdeMiller **

There is an in Considerations for Small Loop Bodies section of fourth chapter:

When you have small loop bodies, you can apply the techniques that were described in Chapter 3, "Parallel Loops" in the "Special Handling of Small Loop Bodies" section.

But Parallel Loops is not the third chapter but second.

Created Issue: Book Errata [573]

AdeMiller — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:42:29 GMT

This issue is designed for tracking errata in the book text. Things like minor typos.

Added as comments below...

Updated Wiki: Home

AdeMiller — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:29:49 GMT

Parallel Programming with Microsoft Visual C++

Design Patterns for Decomposition and Coordination on Multicore Architectures
Colin Campbell and Ade Miller. Forewords by Tony Hey and Herb Sutter

A book that introduces C++ programmers to patterns for including parallelism in their applications. Examples of these patterns are parallel loops, parallel tasks and data aggregation with map-reduce. Each pattern has its own chapter. Each chapter includes a description of the problem, an example of where the pattern is applicable, and code that implements the solution. On this site you will find; the accompanying code samples as well as answers to the end of chapter questions.

Order the hardcopy book or buy the eBook from O’Reilly

$29.99 for the hardcopy, $23.99 for the eBook.
Also on Safari Books online and Amazon.com.

Read the book online in the MSDN Library

Read the book content for free on MSDN!

Download the samples for each chapter

The samples are written in C++ and use the Parallel Patterns Library and Asynchronous Agents Library that shipped with Visual Studio 2010.

System Requirements

You will need Visual C++ and at least Visual C++ 2010 Express to run the samples. However, you will need Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate to use some the parallel diagnostic tools such as the Concurrency Visualizer.

Relevant Blogs and Resources

Here are some blogs that will keep you up to date with what’s happening with this guide and with parallel programming at Microsoft.

Ade Miller: #2782 - patterns & practices development lead and book author.
Parallel Programming in Native Code – The native concurrency team’s blog.
Visual C++ Team Blog - The Microsoft Visual C++ team's blog.
Sutter's Mill - Herb Sutter's blog
Patterns and Practices for parallel programming in C++ - A white paper from the native concurrency team.
Code samples for the Concurrency Runtime and Parallel Pattern Library in Visual Studio 2010 – Additional code samples.

Updated Wiki: Home

AdeMiller — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:28:40 GMT

Parallel Programming with Microsoft Visual C++

Design Patterns for Decomposition and Coordination on Multicore Architectures
Colin Campbell and Ade Miller. Forewords by Tony Hey and Herb Sutter

Order the hardcopy book or buy the eBook from O’Reilly

$29.99 for the hardcopy, $23.99 for the eBook.
Also on Safari Books online and Amazon.com.

Read the book online in the MSDN Library

Read the book content for free on MSDN!

Download the samples for each chapter

The samples are written in C++ and use the Parallel Patterns Library and Asynchronous Agents Library that shipped with Visual Studio 2010.

Relevant Blogs and Resources

Here are some blogs that will keep you up to date with what’s happening with this guide and with parallel programming at Microsoft.

Ade Miller: #2782 - patterns & practices development lead and book author.
Parallel Programming in Native Code – The native concurrency team’s blog.
Visual C++ Team Blog - The Microsoft Visual C++ team's blog.
Sutter's Mill - Herb Sutter's blog
Patterns and Practices for parallel programming in C++ - A white paper from the native concurrency team.
Code samples for the Concurrency Runtime and Parallel Pattern Library in Visual Studio 2010 – Additional code samples.

Updated Wiki: Home

AdeMiller — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:26:48 GMT

Parallel Programming with Microsoft Visual C++

Design Patterns for Decomposition and Coordination on Multicore Architectures
Colin Campbell and Ade Miller. Forewords by Tony Hey and Herb Sutter

Order the hardcopy book or buy the eBook from O’Reilly

$29.99 for the hardcopy, $23.99 for the eBook.
Also on Safari Books online and Amazon.com.

Read the book online in the MSDN Library

Read the book content for free on MSDN!

Download the samples for each chapter

The samples are written in C++ and use the Parallel Patterns Library and Asynchronous Agents Library that shipped with Visual Studio 2010.

Relevant Blogs and Resources

Here are some blogs that will keep you up to date with what’s happening with this guide and with parallel programming at Microsoft.

Ade Miller: #2782 - patterns & practices development lead and book author.
Parallel Programming in Native Code – The native concurrency team’s blog.
Visual C++ Team Blog - The Microsoft Visual C++ team's blog.
Sutter's Mill - Herb Sutter's blog
Patterns and Practices for parallel programming in C++ - A white paper from the native concurrency team.
Code samples for the Concurrency Runtime and Parallel Pattern Library in Visual Studio 2010 – Additional code samples.

Updated Release: Book Companion Release 1.0 (Feb 12, 2011)

AdeMiller — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 01:14:24 GMT

This is the final release to accompany Parallel Programming with Microsoft® Visual C++. It includes:

The C++ sample code for every chapter.
An additional PDF containing answers to the end of chapter questions.
Color versions of the screen shots in Appendix B.

System Requirements

You will need at least Visual C++ 2010 Express to run the samples. However, you will need Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate to use some the parallel diagnostic tools such as the Concurrency Visualizer.

Note: Visual Studio Express users will see the following message when you open the Visual Studio solution (.sln) file for each of these samples: "Solution Folders are not supported in this version of Visual Studio. Solution Folder 'Solution Items' will be displayed as unavailable." Although this folder is not available in Visual Studio Express, you can still build and run the projects. A separate "Book Samples - Express" solution is also provided. Refer to the README.txt file for a brief description of each project and which chapter it relates to.

Getting the Book
The eBook is already available from O'Reilly and Safari Books Online. The printed book can also be pre-ordered from O'Reilly.

Most of the content is also available on the MSDN Library: Parallel programming with Microsoft .NET. The layout isn’t as nice but all the content is there.