From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hpldola!hp-lsd!kary From: kary@hp-lsd.COS.HP.COM (Dan Kary) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ada tasking Message-ID: <8000002@hp-lsd.COS.HP.COM> Date: 26 May 90 07:08:41 GMT References: <20075@grebyn.com> Organization: HP Logic Systems Division - ColoSpgs, CO List-Id: > Why should any language BE concerned with parallelism? > Ted Holden > HTE >From the first time I read the ARM I've felt that the Ada tasking model is quite useless for solving real time problems. However, the value of a programming language that is concerned with parallelism was (and is) immediately obvious. As computing machinery has become faster and faster, the possibilities of what can be done with that machinery have grown. It is becoming increasingly obvious that physical realities (the speed of electricity, the length of wires, etc.) will place a bound on what a single machine may ultimately do. An equally obvious solution to this limitation is to use more than one machine to accomplish the desired task. The problem with using more than one machine to accomplish a single task is that virtually all problem solving techniques currently used involve algorithms that presume a single thread of execution. This is a most unsurprising state of affairs, given that most machines and programming languages concern themselves with a single thread of execution. In order to make the leap to a future where multiple machines work cooperatively to solve a single problem, the people who program those machines will have to begin to think about parallel solutions to problems. A language which presents a model of parallel execution that is free of machine and operating system dependencies seems to be a useful first step. Dan Kary