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Ask Slashdot: What Is the Most Painless Intro To GPU Programming?

Posted by Soulskill on from the large-reference-books-and-opiates dept.

dryriver writes "I am an intermediate-level programmer who works mostly in C# NET. I have a couple of image/video processing algorithms that are highly parallelizable — running them on a GPU instead of a CPU should result in a considerable speedup (anywhere from 10x times to perhaps 30x or 40x times speedup, depending on the quality of the implementation). Now here is my question: What, currently, is the most painless way to start playing with GPU programming? Do I have to learn CUDA/OpenCL — which seems a daunting task to me — or is there a simpler way? Perhaps a Visual Programming Language or 'VPL' that lets you connect boxes/nodes and access the GPU very simply? I should mention that I am on Windows, and that the GPU computing prototypes I want to build should be able to run on Windows. Surely there must a be a 'relatively painless' way out there, with which one can begin to learn how to harness the GPU?"

5 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. GPU programming is pain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    GPU programming is painful. A painless introduction doesn't capture the flavor of it.

    1. Re:GPU programming is pain by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, it would be like S&M without the pain . . . cute, but something essential is missing from the experience.

      Heidi Klum has a TV show call "Germany's Next Top Model". She basically gets all "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS" on a bunch of neurotic, anorexic, pubescent girls, teaching them how a top model needs to suffer.

      Heidi Klum would make a good GPU programming instructor.

      . . . and even non-geeks would watch the show. A win-win for everyone.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:GPU programming is pain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, that's what we need! More neurotic, anorexic, pubescent girls who know how to do GPU programming!

    3. Re:GPU programming is pain by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Funny

      I thought we needed more "Ilsa, She-Wolf" programming instructors.

  2. Re:Learn OpenCL by Chaos+Incarnate · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just because we C# programmers can't do memory management worth a damn doesn't mean we're no better than VB programmers. We at least know what case sensitivity means. ;)

    --
    Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Law: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."