Prerequisites

• Programming in C/C++. (We will also use R, but you are not expected to have prior knowledge of it.) The level of programming background required is only that of ECS 60, but these are sophisticated programs, requiring lots of thought. Parallel programming is much harder than the ordnary kind, because one must juggle many simultaneous events. If you have needed a detailed and lots of help to do programming assignments in past course, this may not be a good course for yu.

• Good math skills, ESPECIALLY linear algebra.

The R language and L^ATEXword processing software that we will use in this class are available for every major platform--Linux, Macs and Windows. However, I strongly prefer to that you run on a Unix-family system, either Linux or a Mac. as that would make it easier for me to help you fix your bugs. So, a basic background in Unix at the level of usage of ECS 40 would be helpful but not required. (See also Section 7 below.)

Prior background in R and L^ATEXthemselves is NOT required.