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From Flop to MegaFlops: Java for Technical Computing

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Languages and Compilers for Parallel Computing (LCPC 1998)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1656))

Abstract

Although there has been some experimentation with Java as a language for numerically intensive computing, there is a perception by many that the language is not suited for such work. In this paper we show how optimizing array bounds checks and null pointer checks creates loop nests on which aggressive optimizations can be used. Applying these optimizations by hand to a simple matrix-multiply test case leads to Java compliant programs whose performance is in excess of 500 Mflops on an RS/6000 SP 332MHz SMP node. We also report in this paper the effect that each optimization has on performance. Since all of these optimizations can be automated, we conclude that Java will soon be a serious contender for numerically intensive computing.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York, 10598, USA

    J. E. Moreira, S. P. Midkiff & M. Gupta

Authors
  1. J. E. Moreira
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  2. S. P. Midkiff
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  3. M. Gupta
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3175, USA

    Siddhartha Chatterjee  & Jan F. Prins  & 

  2. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0114, USA

    Larry Carter  & Jeanne Ferrante  & 

  3. Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, 1398 Computer Science Building, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Zhiyuan Li

  4. Intel Corporation, 2200 Mission College Boulevard, RN6-18, Santa Clara, CA, 95052, USA

    David Sehr

  5. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Pen-Chung Yew

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Moreira, J.E., Midkiff, S.P., Gupta, M. (1999). From Flop to MegaFlops: Java for Technical Computing. In: Chatterjee, S., et al. Languages and Compilers for Parallel Computing. LCPC 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1656. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48319-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48319-5_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-66426-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48319-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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