Zeit:  Montag, 19. Mai 2008, 11.00 Uhr
Ort:   Seminarraum des Lehrstuhles Informatik 8 (Prof. Kobbelt), Raum 6317, Ahornstr. 55

Referent: Dr. Paolo Bientinesi
          Duke University, Raleigh, U.S.A.

Title: Can Computers Develop Libraries?

Abstract:
When developing and writing high-performance libraries for scientific computing, 
computer scientists and programmers constantly need to identify the algorithm 
that performs best in a given situation. The answer normally depends on a large 
number of factors, ranging from the features of the ever-changing target architectures 
to specific properties of the problem at hand. Given such an abundance of variables, 
it comes as no surprise that the development of high-performance libraries still 
remains challenging and requires the skills of computing "craftsmen". We asked 
ourselves if computers can be used not only to execute or optimize algorithms, 
but also to generate them.

In this talk, we consider the question of automating algorithm and software development 
for dense linear algebra operations. I will illustrate how the combination of Hoare's 
logic and abstraction leads to the automatic generation of families of formally correct 
algorithms. Furthermore, experimental results show that maximum performance is attained 
by different members of the family in different scenarios. An open question is whether 
it is possible to predict/model the performance of the algorithms for a given scenario.


Es laden ein: Die Dozenten der Informatik