C*: Difference between revisions

C*
Paradigm	multi-paradigm: imperative, parallel
Designed by	Thinking Machines
Developer	Thinking Machines
First appeared	1987
Stable release	6.x (August 27, 1993) / August 27, 1993
Typing discipline	static, weak, manifest
OS	Connection Machine
Filename extensions	.cs
Influenced by
	ANSI C, *Lisp
Influenced
	Dataparallel-C

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Latest revision as of 22:53, 17 October 2024

C* (or C-star) is a data-parallel superset of ANSI C with synchronous semantics.

History

It was developed in 1987 as an alternative language to *Lisp and CM-Fortran for the Connection Machine CM-2 and above. The language C* adds to C a "domain" data type and a selection statement for parallel execution in domains.

For the CM-2 models the C* compiler translated the code into serial C, calling PARIS (Parallel Instruction Set) functions, and passed the resulting code to the front end computer's native compiler. The resulting executables were executed on the front end computer with PARIS calls being executed on the Connection Machine.

On the CM-5 and CM-5E parallel C* Code was executed in a SIMD style fashion on processing elements, whereas serial code was executed on the PM (Partition Manager) Node, with the PM acting as a "front end" if directly compared to a CM-2. The latest version of C* as of 27 August 1993 is 6.x. An unimplemented language dubbed "Parallel C" (not to be confused with Unified Parallel C) influenced the design of C*. Dataparallel-C was based on C*.

References

General

C*: An Extended C Language for Data Parallel Programming, John R. Rose and Guy L. Steele, Jr., in Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Supercomputing, vol. II, L. P. Kartashev et al. eds, May 1987, pp 2–16.
C* User Guide, Thinking Machines Corporation, 1991
C* Programming Manual, Thinking Machines Corporation, 1993.
The Art of Parallel Programming (2nd Ed.), B. P. Lester, 1st World Publishing, 2006. (A downloadable version of the "C* Compiler and Parallel Computer Simulation System" is available at the publisher's Web site.)
C*, Guy L. Steele, Jr., in Encyclopedia of Parallel Computing, D. Padua, ed., Springer, 2011, pp 207–212.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Object-oriented programming language}}
-{{about|the programming language|the DBMS|Apache_Cassandra|algebra|C*-algebra|the symbols used on flags and emblems|Star and crescent|the rocket propulsion term|Characteristic velocity|astronomical object type|star cluster|the goth festival|Convergence (goth festival)}}
+{{about|the programming language|the DBMS|Apache Cassandra|algebra|C*-algebra|the symbols used on flags and emblems|Star and crescent|the rocket propulsion term|Characteristic velocity|astronomical object type|star cluster|the goth festival|Convergence (goth festival)}}
 {{no footnotes|date=December 2017}}
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 | name = C*
 | logo =
-| paradigm = [[Multi-paradigm programming language|multi-paradigm]]: [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]], [[Imperative programming|imperative]], [[parallel programming|parallel]]
+| paradigm = [[Multi-paradigm programming language|multi-paradigm]]: [[Imperative programming|imperative]], [[parallel programming|parallel]]
 | year =1987
 | designer =[[Thinking Machines Corporation|Thinking Machines]]
@@ Line 14: / Line 15: @@
 | implementations =
 | dialects =
-| influenced_by =[[Parallel C]], [[ANSI C]]
+| influenced_by =[[ANSI C]], [[*Lisp]]
 | influenced =[[Dataparallel-C]]
 | operating_system = [[Connection Machine]]
@@ Line 21: / Line 22: @@
 | file_ext = .cs
 }}
-'''C*''' is an [[object-oriented programming|object-oriented]], data-parallel superset of [[ANSI C]] with synchronous semantics.
+'''C*''' (or C-star) is a data-parallel superset of [[ANSI C]] with synchronous semantics.
 ==History==
@@ Line 30: / Line 31: @@
 On the CM-5 and CM-5E parallel C* Code was executed in a SIMD style fashion on processing elements, whereas serial code was executed on the PM (Partition Manager) Node, with the PM acting as a "front end" if directly compared to a CM-2.
 The latest version of C* as of 27 August 1993 is 6.x.
-An unimplemented [[Programming language|language]] called "[[Parallel C]]" influenced the design of C*. [[Dataparallel-C]] was based on C*.
+An unimplemented [[Programming language|language]] dubbed "Parallel C" (not to be confused with [[Unified Parallel C]]) influenced the design of C*. [[Dataparallel-C]] was based on C*.
 ==References==
@@ Line 39: / Line 40: @@
 * ''[http://people.csail.mit.edu/bradley/cm5docs/CM-5CStarUsersGuide.pdf C* User Guide]'', Thinking Machines Corporation, 1991
 * ''[http://people.csail.mit.edu/bradley/cm5docs/CStarProgrammingGuide.pdf C* Programming Manual]'', Thinking Machines Corporation, 1993.
-* ''[http://www.1stworldpublishing.com/books/parallelprogramming.asp The Art of Parallel Programming (2nd Ed.)]'', B. P. Lester, 1st World Publishing, 2006.  (A downloadable version of the "C* Compiler and Parallel Computer Simulation System" is available at the publisher's Web site.)
+* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013603/http://www.1stworldpublishing.com/books/parallelprogramming.asp The Art of Parallel Programming (2nd Ed.)]'', B. P. Lester, 1st World Publishing, 2006.  (A downloadable version of the "C* Compiler and Parallel Computer Simulation System" is available at the publisher's Web site.)
-* ''C*'', Guy L. Steele, Jr., in ''[https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-09766-4 Encyclopedia of Parallel Computing]'', D. Padua, ed., Springer, 2011, pp 207–212.
+* ''C*'', Guy L. Steele, Jr., in ''[https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-0-387-09766-4 Encyclopedia of Parallel Computing]'', D. Padua, ed., Springer, 2011, pp 207–212.
-{{FOLDOC}}
 {{C programming language |state=collapsed}}