Learning Path: C++: High Performance applications with C++

Name: Learning Path: C++: High Performance applications with C++
Rating: 3.9 (42 reviews)

Write robust, concurrent and parallel applications to master multithreading and concurrent processing with C++

Created byPackt Publishing

Last updated 3/2018

English

What you'll learn

Capture common pitfalls and gotchas and explore different scenarios using examples
See atomic operations in detail: what they are and how they are best used
Go through a basic example of multithreading using the native threading support added in the 2011 revision of C++
Build upon the fundamentals provided by the hardware implementations
Explore an advanced multithreading implementation using C++ 14's native threading API
Extend and optimize thread-safety using the features offered by the full feature set in C++ 11 and C++ 14

Course content

2 sections • 25 lectures • 2h 54m total length

The Course Overview2:29
This video gives an overview of the entire course.
The Humble Debugger4:58
Of all the questions a developer may have, the question of why did my application just crash? is probably among the most important. This is also one of the questions which are most easily answered with a debugger.
Dynamic Analysis Tools17:09
The purpose of Helgrind is to detect issues with synchronization implementations within a multithreaded application. It can detect wrongful use of POSIX threads, potential deadlock issues due to wrong locking order as well as data races--the reading or writing of data without thread synchronization.
Proper Multithreading7:01
As with most things, it's best to avoid making mistakes rather than correcting them afterwards. This video looks at a number of common mistakes and design issues with multithreaded applications.
Mutexes, Locks, and Threads7:15
There are also gotchas with mutexes, as we will see in this video.
GCC3:42
Like Visual C++, GCC also comes with a set of built-in atomic functions. These differ based on the underlying architecture that the GCC version and the standard library one uses.
Memory Order12:35
Memory barriers are not always used in the C++11 memory model for atomic operations. In the GCC built-in atomics API, this is reflected in the memorder parameter in its functions.
Distributed Computing, in a Nutshell8:13
When it comes to processing large datasets in parallel, it would be ideal if one could take the data, chop it up into lots of small parts, and push it to a lot of threads, thus significantly shortening the total time spent processing the said data.
Installing Open MPI8:55
For the remainder of this section, we will focus on Open MPI. In order to get a working development environment for Open MPI, one will have to install its headers and library files, along with its supporting tools and binaries.
MPI Communication9:09
At this point, we have a functional MPI cluster, which can be used to execute MPI-based applications (and others, as well) in a parallel fashion.
Test your knowledge

The Course Overview2:42
This video gives an overview of the course.
The Multithreaded Application9:26
Let’s get started by covering basic multithreading in C++ using the native API and writing basic makefiles along with usage of GCC.
Other Applications1:30
Let’s get started by covering basic multithreading in C++ using the native API and writing basic makefiles along with usage of GCC.
Defining Processes, Threads, and the Stack4:33
Let’s see the evolution of processor hardware in order to support multithreading concepts.
Defining Multithreading3:22
This video shows how operating systems changed to use the evolved hardware features.
Mutual Exclusion Implementations3:40
Now that we’ve seen evolution of hardware and OS, let’s take a look at concepts behind memory safety and memory models.
POSIX Threads10:47
Many libraries were developed to make cross-platform development easier. Pthreads help make UNIX-like OS more compatible. Let’s see how.
Windows Threads9:11
Relative to Pthreads, Windows threads are limited to Windows operating systems. This provides a fairly consistent implementation, easily defined by the Windows version that the support corresponds to.
POCO4:11
The POCO library is a fairly lightweight wrapper around operating system functionality. It does not require a C++11 compatible compiler or any kind of pre compiling or metacompiling.
The Scheduler14:22
Let’s take a look at a fairly complex example involving a task scheduler. This is a form of high-concurrency, high-throughput situation where many different requirements come together with many potential traps.
Sharing Data2:25
The essential idea behind the sharing of data between threads is that the data to be shared exists somewhere in a way which is accessible to two threads or more.
Thread Class6:40
The thread class is the core of the entire threading API; it wraps the underlying operating system's threads, and provides the functionality we need to start and stop threads.
Mutex8:54
The <mutex> header contains multiple types of mutexes and locks. The mutex type is the most commonly used type, and provides the basic lock/unlock functionality without any Further complications.
Condition Variable5:36
In essence, a condition variable provides a mechanism through which a thread's execution can be controlled by another thread. This is done by having a shared variable which a thread will wait for until signaled by another thread.
Future5:55
The last part of the C++11 thread support API is defined in <future>. It offers a range of classes, which implement more high-level multithreading concepts aimed more at easy asynchronous processing rather than the implementation of a multithreaded architecture.
Test your knowledge

Requirements

Working knowledge with C++ is needed
Basic knowledge of multithreading will be useful

Description

Multithreading is an ability of a platform or an application to create a process that consists of multiple threads of execution. Multithreading is used when the parallel execution of some tasks edges to a more productive use of resources of the system. Multithreaded applications execute multiple threads in a single processor environment, allowing developers to achieve concurrency. Multithreading with C++ has diverse benefits as C++ being an intermediate level language and comprises a confirmation of both high level and low level language features. If you're interested to master multithreading and concurrent processing with C++, then go for this Learning Path.

Packt’s Video Learning Paths are a series of individual video products put together in a logical and stepwise manner such that each video builds on the skills learned in the video before it.

The highlights of this Learning Path are:

Learn to use tools such as Val grind to analyze the multithreaded performance of an application
Explore an advanced multithreading implementation using C++ 14's native threading API
Learn how multithreading can be done across multiple systems

Let’s take a quick look at your learning journey...

This step-by-step guide will get you started with examples that will help you become a master at writing robust concurrent and parallel applications in C++.

To get started, this Learning Path gives you a brief introduction to the fundamentals of multithreading and concurrency concepts. The comprehensive coverage of essential multithreading concepts will help you code and apply efficiently multithreading concepts while coding in C++.

Moving on, you’ll learn the finer points of multithreading and concurrency concepts and how to apply them efficiently in C++. After this, you’ll take an in-depth look at how these concepts work at the hardware-level as well as how both operating systems and frameworks use these low-level functions. Finally, you’ll learn about the native multithreading and concurrency support available in C++ like synchronization, and communication between threads. After completing this Learning Path, you’ll have learned the concepts required to be a functional programmer and write functional web-apps using modern JavaScript.

After the completion of this Learning Path, you’ll have mastered multithreading and concurrent processing with C++ as well as write robust, concurrent and parallel applications.

Meet Your Expert:

We have the best work of the following esteemed author to ensure that your learning journey is smooth:

Maya Posch is a software engineer by trade and a self-professed electronics, robotics, and AI nut, running her own software development company, Nyanko, with her good friend, Trevor Purdy, where she works on various game development projects and some non-game projects. Apart from this, she does various freelance jobs for companies around the globe. You can visit her LinkedIn profile for more work-related details. Aside from writing software, she likes to play with equations and write novels, such as her awesome reimagining of the story of the Nintendo classic, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and the survival-horror novel she recently started, Viral Desire. You can check out her Scribd profile for a full listing of her writings.

Who this course is for:

This Learning Path is for intermediate C++ developers who wish to extend their knowledge of multithreading and concurrent processing.

Learning Path: C++: High Performance applications with C++

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Advanced Concepts of Multithreading with C++10 lectures • 1hr 21min

Mastering Multithreading with C++15 lectures • 1hr 33min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: