Multiple-core processors want software developers to think out of the box
Processor technology has seen the most advancement than any other component of the computer; still we use the same optical drives and hard drives that we used with slow processors like a few hundred megahertz Pentium processor. Programs that run and take full advantage of the computing power of multi-core processors are few. This makes us think that are these processors really required today...?
Advent of Multi-Core processors:
Companies such as Intel and AMD are trying to better each other with the introduction of processors that are having more cores. The main reason why we got into the era of multi-core processors was to satisfy our insatiable demand for computing. Multi-Core processors are the ones that host two or more processor chips on the same silicon chip. This divides the work in between the cores and is a much energy-efficient way than using two processors on a motherboard. The resulting technology is ideal for the most demanding multimedia tasks, such as processing large videos and playing a computer game while burning a DVD.
Demands of multi-core processors:
Multi-Core processors don't show their potential when you are preparing a presentation on PowerPoint or preparing some documents on Word. The reason is that these applications are human-dependent and we cannot even better the processing capacity of single processors. These multi-core processors are best suited for programs that make full use of their capability. This means that program developers should develop programs specially designed for use with multi-core processors. They have to develop programs that distribute work load among the different cores of a CPU.
Intel and AMD have already released processors with two or four cores. Intel however has demonstrated a CPU with 80 cores; the processor cannot make a debut because till now we don't have an OS that can work on it.
Dire consequences for software developers:
Processors now take time to process a program, which means software itself is faster than the computing capacity of a processor; however, once the processors become faster than the software no one would buy software that tends to make their computers slow. Software makes have to think and think fast before the time changes. The time today is ripe and anyone who develops the first program specially designed for use with dual or quad core processors will surely rule the market.
Software giants need to act fast:
The problem is so severe and difficult to answer that even software giants like Microsoft are having no clue on what the future might throw at them. Microsoft stated that their programmers are working on parallel computing from the last five years and they hope that the first programs should be out soon. They believe that developing new programming languages won't suffice the purpose the need is to evolve tools and think about a completely new era of programming.
Software industry would have felt good if chip makers continued to follow Moore's law and double the performance of their machines every two years without jumping in the parallel processing world. Now since they have already ventured into it, software developers have to work hard to meet their requirements.
Via: Yahoo
