Project Title:

A C++ Virtual, Shared-Grid Model for Architecture-Independent Programming

92-1-06.01-4807                                                   NAS02-13802
A C++ Virtual, Shared-Grid Model for 
     Architecture-Independent Programming
Front Range Scientific Computation, Inc.
Campus Box 170, P.O. Box 173364
Denver, CO  80217-3364
Daniel J. Quinlan                                    (303-556-4807)

Abstract:

     This project will investigate the P++ user environment to
simplify the development of efficient software for portable use
across the widest variety of computer architectures. The major
target architectures are distributed memory computers with
different kinds of node architectures (vector or superscalar). A
simplifying environment for the development of software is needed
to take advantage of current and future developments in advanced
computational hardware which the P++ environment does by using a
standard language, C++, with absolutely no modification of the
compiler. Such work is directly related to development of runtime
parallel interpretation for FORTRAN 90 D. The advantage of using a
standard C++ is that the runtime interpretation of parallelism can
be more quickly developed and researched without the construction
of a special FORTRAN compiler thereby allowing for the runtime
parallel interpretation of FORTRAN to be explored with greater
efficiency than would otherwise be possible. Such work also
extends the usage of the object-oriented C++ language for
development of architecture-independent numerical codes. Such an
environment would allow existing C++ language compilers to be used
to develop software in the preferred serial environment, and the
software could be efficiently run, unchanged, in all target
environments. In this way, the investigators introduce an
innovative development to permit architecture-independent
programming for large-scale scientific applications, which is
directly related to existing NASA work on FORTRAN for the parallel
environment.

Potential Commercial Application:

Potential Commercial Applications:  This work will simplify the
development of software for advanced computers and will be made
generally available as a commercial product through Dyad Software
Corp. and Pallas GmbH product lines of tools for the support of
scientific programming. Additionally, the runtime environment will
be provided a FORTRAN interface that will permit the direct
incorporation of the P++ environment into the design of the FORTRAN
90 D compiler.

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