An Ada multitasking solution for the sieve of Eratosthenes

ABSTRACT

The Sieve of Eratosthenes, an algorithm for calculating prime numbers, has been used for years as a benchmark for evaluating the processing power of single CPUs. A recent modification to the sieve algorithm provides a concurrent solution method for calculating prime numbers. This paper describes an Ada program which uses a multitasking solution for the Sieve of Eratosthenes. The program illustrates the use of Ada tasking to obtain concurrency in the solution of compute-intensive numerical algorithms and may also serve as a benchmark program for evaluating multiple CPU systems.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications

          Nouns: Ada

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.4 OPERATING SYSTEMS

  F. Theory of Computation
  F.2 ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS AND PROBLEM COMPLEXITY
      F.2.1 Numerical Algorithms and Problems
          Subjects: Number-theoretic computations (e.g., factoring, primality testing)

General Terms:
Algorithms, Languages, Theory