Component architectures in the next generation of ultrascale scientific computing: challenges and opportunities

ABSTRACT

Component architectures for high-end scientific computing are still a relatively new idea, and their most effective use and benefits are active areas of research for both developers and users of such approaches. At the same time, however, the scale of both scientific simulations and the computer hardware on which they're run has been growing rapidly, generating an increasing desire for more complex software systems (such as coupled simulations), new programming models and languages, and more complex hardware environments. This paper presents the author's analysis of how these trends might interact with component-based software engineering (CBSE) for scientific computing, in some cases exacerbating existing challenges or posing new ones, or in other cases offering opportunities in which the component environment might be leveraged to give software developers new capabilities or simplify challenges they face.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.1 PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES
      D.1.m Miscellaneous

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.0 General

  J. Computer Applications
  J.2 PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING

General Terms:
Design, Management

Keywords:
component-based software engineering, high-performance computing, parallel computing, scientific computing, simulation