Software portability

About: Software portability is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8987 publications have been published within this topic receiving 164922 citations. The topic is also known as: portability.

ZPL: a machine independent programming language for parallel computers

Abstract: The goal of producing architecture-independent parallel programs is complicated by the competing need for high performance. The ZPL programming language achieves both goals by building upon an abstract parallel machine and by providing programming constructs that allow the programmer to "see" this underlying machine. This paper describes ZPL and provides a comprehensive evaluation of the language with respect to its goals of performance, portability, and programming convenience. In particular, we describe ZPt's machine-independent performance model, describe the programming benefits of ZPL's region-based constructs, summarize the compilation benefits of the language's high-level semantics, and summarize empirical evidence that ZPL has achieved both high performance and portability on diverse machines such as the IBM SP-2, Cray T3E, and SGI Power Challenge.

A Refactoring Approach to Parallelism

Abstract: In the multicore era, a major programming task will be to make programs more parallel. This is tedious because it requires changing many lines of code; it's also error-prone and nontrivial because programmers need to ensure noninterference of parallel operations. Fortunately, interactive refactoring tools can help reduce the analysis and transformation burden. The author describes how refactoring tools can improve programmer productivity, program performance, and program portability. The article also describes a toolset that supports several refactorings for making programs thread-safe, threading sequential programs for throughput, and improving scalability of parallel programs.

Technology directions for portable computers

Abstract: This paper contains an evaluation of trends in the key system parameters (e.g., size, weight, function, performance, battery life) for battery-powered portable computers, together with a review of development trends in the technologies required for such systems. The discussion focuses on notebook-size portable computers. Those technologies which will have substantial impact on battery life and power budgets of future notebook computers receive the primary emphasis in this paper for example, liquid crystal displays, storage technology, wireless communication technology, and low power electronics. System power management is also be addressed. The basic theme of this paper is first to develop a view of what the key attributes of future notebook computers will be, and then to discuss how technologies must evolve to allow such systems to be advanced over the current state of the art in terms of portability and battery life. >

DHCP for mobile networking with TCP/IP

Abstract: Mobile-IP and the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) are two protocols which are likely to be implemented together for use with wireless computers. We explore the ways that they can be used with in mobile computers. These protocols interact in subtle ways, presenting a system architect with a variety of trade-offs that need careful analysis. We detail the important interactions and system design issues, and also explain the design and implementation of a new DHCP option for mobile computers. The difference between mobility and portability is explained; this paper only emphasizes approaches for mobility. We explore implementation issues that we have encountered.

Architectural requirements for a multipurpose natural language processor in the clinical environment.

Abstract: A considerable amount of research has been concerned with the development of natural language systems to automate the encoding of clinical information that occurs in textual form. The task is very complex, and not many language processors are used routinely within clinical information systems. Those systems that are operational, have been implemented in narrow domains for particular applications. For a system to be truly useful, it should be designed so that it could be widely used within the clinical environment. This paper examines architectural requirements we have identified as being necessary for portability and describes the architecture of the system we developed. Our system was designed so that it could be used in different domains to serve a variety of applications. It has been integrated with the clinical information system at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center where it routinely encodes clinical information from radiological reports of patients.