Towards Usable and Lean Parallel Linear Algebra Libraries (original) (raw)

In this paper, we introduce a new parallel library effort, as part of the PLAPACK project, that attempts to address discrepencies between the needs of applications and parallel libraries. A number of contributions are made, including a new approach to matrix distribution, new insights into layering parallel linear algebra libraries, and the application of ``object based'''' programming techniques which have recently become popular for (parallel) scientific libraries. We present an overview of a prototype library, the SL_Library, which incorporates these ideas. Preliminary performance data shows this more application-centric approach to libraries does not necessarily adversely impact performance, compared to more traditional approaches.