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Intel Updates Compilers For Multicore CPUs
Threaded writes with news from Ars that Intel has announced major updates to its C++ and Fortran tools. The new compilers are Intel's first that are capable of doing thread-level optimization and auto-vectorization simultaneously in a single pass. "On the data parallelism side, the Intel C++ Compiler and Fortran Professional Editions both sport improved auto-vectorization features that can target Intel's new SSE4 extensions. For thread-level parallelism, the compilers support the use of Intel's Thread Building Blocks for automatic thread-level optimization that takes place simultaneously with auto-vectorization... Intel is encouraging the widespread use of its Intel Threading Tools as an interface to its multicore processors. As the company raises the core count with each generation of new products, it will get harder and harder for programmers to manage the complexity associated with all of that available parallelism. So the Thread Building Blocks are Intel's attempt to insert a stable layer of abstraction between the programmer and the processor so that code scales less painfully with the number of cores."
...briefly translate this article into cretin for me, so that I can understand a bit more of why it's so cool?
u-bend
Intel has added kitten whiskers and pixie dust to its compilers so your ponies can now play on multiple paddocks.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Cue "Fortran is Dead" comments in
30
20
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"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
... the version before this one was in ebonics.
From the viewpoint of Intel, this is actually good practice. They don't know what features that AMD actually supports (through possibly intentional ignorance), and they don't want to cause someone's system to lock up. While I'd rather see my AMD CPU be supported by Intel's compiler, I can understand why they might be reticent to support certain features, even though the CPU reports support for that feature.
Anyways, it's not like MMX/SSE are really used for much of anything but benchmarks and voice synthesis. Or, at least, that's what it was like last time I actually cared enough to look.
When I was a kid, we didn't even have MMX. We made use with math coprocessors, and sometimes we didn't even have that. In fact, I remember using CPUs that didn't even have onboard MMUs or support for protected mode operation. Kids today are spoiled. Try using a VIC 20 or TI 99/4a for a few hours, then tell me how important it is to have your competitor design a compiler that optimizes for your CPU.
OMG! PONIES!!!
Or ATI making any sort of drivers?
You're thinking of IBM.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
With intels new enhancements, they are now re-labeled as PWNies!