12 July 2011, 17:03

Parallel programming: OpenMP 3.1 API specification released

The OpenMP 3.1 API specification has been released by the OpenMP Architecture Review Board (ARB), a non-profit organisation that includes permanent members such as Intel, NVIDIA, IBM, HP and Microsoft. The ARB said that, although this is only a minor release that does not break existing applications, several new features have been added in the three years since the release of the previous specification. Version 3.1 "lays the ground work for future extensions to better support emerging hardware directions," added the ARB.

Additions include predefined min and max operators for C and C++ (which are designed to simplify the implementation of reductions), and extensions to the atomic construct that allow the value of the updated variable to be captured for later use (which can be used, for example, in the implementation of dynamic scheduling approaches without expensive locking).

The OpenMP 3.1 API specification is available free of charge PDF . Michael Klemm, who contributes to the OpenMP Language Committee for Intel, has compiled further details on his blog.