Parallel & Distributed Computing Fall 2008 Overview of Final Exam

Course Grading Comments Approximate Weights for Course Grade Homework 40% Midterm Exam 30% Final Exam 30% Final must be given as specified in the Fall’08 Schedule of Classes Exam is from 12:45-3:00 on Friday Dec 12. Exam will be in same room as used for classes

Information to Study for Final Class slides covering test material are very important Slides contain some information not in text Probably best to study these first Assigned textbook reading material Can use these to clarify or expand your understanding of topics covered in the slides Homework assignments Only homework since midterm are HW sets 3-5 Some questions from these two problem sets are possible For example, tracing ClearSpeed or MPI/C++ code segments Problems assigned from Chapter 2

Primary Topics for Final Chapters 2-4 & 6-7 in Quinn Slides are primary reference Reference from textbook may be useful to clarify or extend knowledge Three lectures by Prof. Robert Walker In the past, Walker has created one question concerning his lectures Slides on ATC Ability to discuss topics covered How ATC shows importance of SIMD

Primary Topics for Final (cont.) Basic knowledge from topics covered before midterm. For example, Some basic knowledge topics in chpt 1. Multicomputers, multiprocessors, UMA, NUMA, etc. Flynn’s Taxonomy Classification Data Parallel vs Control Parallel Associative properties that are not SIMD Topics tested on midterm You should study solutions to midterm questions after midterm was graded and returned. One or more of these may be retested Solutions to midterm are posted. A password is required.

Other Comments on Final A larger portion (e.g., 60%-75%) of the final will concern topics since the midterm. In general, topics since midterm are likely to be tested at greater depth than earlier topics. A more detailed list of topics to study will be posted under “Online References” on class website.