Experimental Studies
Par. program. is an experimental discipline!
- Design experiment
- Identify data you wish to obtain.
- Measure data for different problem sizes and/or processor numbers;
- Be sure that you measure what you intend to measure.
- Obtain and validate experimental data
- Repeat experiments to verify reproducability of results.
- Variation by nondeterministic algorithms, inaccurate
timers, startup costs, interference from other programs, contention, ...
- Fit data to analytic models.
For instance, measure communication time and use scaled least-square fitting
to determine startup and data transfer costs.
Author: Wolfgang Schreiner
Last Modification: October 13, 1997