Test Your Knowledge with the MPI Quiz

David Henty, EPCC

In this video, David Henty from EPCC conducts a video-based quiz on MPI.

“Using the basic MPI functions, such as point-to-point send and receive, is relatively straightforward. In most cases, the default behaviour of MPI means that simple programs function correctly; these good design choices are one of the reasons why the library has proved so popular over the years. However, even these seemingly simple functions can be a little more complicated than they first seem. For example, if you issue a send and there is no matching receive then what happens depends on exactly how you initiated the send. Understanding the defined behaviour in these slightly more complicated situations can be very helpful in ensuring your MPI programs function correctly in all possible circumstances.”

The multiple-choice questions are partly designed for fun to test attendees’ knowledge, but are mainly aimed at promoting discussion about MPI and its usage in real applications. All that is assumed is a working knowledge of basic MPI functionality: send, receive, collectives, derived datatypes and non-blocking communications.

To take the quiz, point your browser to https://b.socrative.com/login/student/ and enter “HPCQUIZ” for “Room Name”.

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