unfolding disasters/ posts/ Parallel computing

Available in a git repository.
Repository: parallel_computing
Browsable repository: parallel_computing
Author: W. Trevor King

In contrast to my course website project, which is mostly about constructing a framework for automatically compiling and installing LaTeX problem sets, Prof. Vallières' Parallel Computing course is basically an online textbook with a large amount of example software. In order to balance between to Prof. Vallières' original and my own aesthetic, I rolled a new solution from scratch. See my version of his Fall 2010 page for a live example.

Differences from my course website project:

  • No PHP, since there is no dynamic content that cannot be handled with SSI.
  • Less installation machinery. Only a few build/cleanup scripts to avoid versioning really tedious bits. The repository is designed to be dropped into your ~/public_html/ whole, while the course website project is designed to rsync the built components up as they go live.
  • Less LaTeX, more XHTML. It's easier to edit XHTML than it is to exit and compile LaTeX, and PDFs are large and annoying. As a computing class, there are fewer graphics than there are in an intro-physics class, so the extra power of LaTeX is not as useful.