Introduction to High-Performance and Parallel Computing

The University of Colorado Boulder, situated against the stunning backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, is a flagship institution renowned for its academic excellence, research prowess, and vibrant campus life. CU Boulder has evolved into a hub of innovation and intellectual exploration. The university offers a diverse range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs across various disciplines, encouraging students to pursue their passions and make meaningful contributions to society. At CU Boulder, students engage with world-class faculty who are leaders in their fields, fostering an environment that promotes critical thinking and creativity. The campus is a melting pot of ideas and cultures, providing a rich tapestry of experiences for students. With a commitment to sustainability and a focus on cutting-edge research, the University of Colorado Boulder continues to be a beacon of higher education, preparing students to navigate the complexities of our ever-changing world.

This course introduces the fundamentals of high-performance and parallel computing. It is targeted to scientists, engineers, scholars, really everyone seeking to develop the software skills necessary for work in parallel software environments. These skills include big-data analysis, machine learning, parallel programming, and optimization. We will cover the basics of Linux environments and bash scripting all the way to high throughput computing and parallelizing code. We recommend you are familiar with either Fortran 90, C++, or Python to complete some of the programming assignments. After completing this course, you will familiar with:*The components of a high-performance distributed computing system*Types of parallel programming models and the situations in which they might be used*High-throughput computing*Shared memory parallelism*Distributed memory parallelism*Navigating a typical Linux-based HPC environment*Assessing and analyzing application scalability including weak and strong scaling*Quantifying the processing, data, and cost requirements for a computational project or workflowThis course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Data Science (MS-DS) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The MS-DS is an interdisciplinary degree that brings together faculty from CU Boulder’s departments of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Science, and others. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the MS-DS is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience in computer science, information science, mathematics, and statistics. Learn more about the MS-DS program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-of-science-data-science-boulder.