Overview

While this course aims to teach you the foundations of high performance computing, it would be impossible to understand the techniques without some fundamental understanding of how computers work. Modern computers are incredibly complex machines made up of trillions of individual components. While understanding modern hardware is a task far beyond the scope of this course, it is possible to construct a working “metal model” of how computers are able to perform so many varied tasks. In this introductory chapter, we will aim to build up this picture so that you are better able to reason about the performance of your programs.