Q&A From Webinar Simplify Parallelism with Intel® Parallel Composer

Q1. What is a difference between Intel® Parallel Composer and the usual Intel® C++ Compiler Professional?

A. Please see http://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/intel-parallel-studio/topic/65980/. A more detailed article will come soon.

Q2. What difficulties could be resulted from OpenMP* versions' differences in Microsoft and Intel support?

A. By linking multiple copies of the OpenMP* runtime libraries from different compilers you could encounter linking or run-time problems. To avoid the conflict always link the entire application using the Intel compiler OpenMP Compatibility libraries. For further information please see http://www.intel.com/software/products/compilers/docs/flin/main_for/mergedprojects/optaps_for/common/optaps_par_openmp_multiple_compilers.htm

Q3. I didn't find the Intel® Parallel Composer when I clicked on Debug menu. I have Intel® Parallel Inspector and Amplifier in my Tools menu. Please how can I access the Intel Parallel Composer. Thanks:)

A. The Intel® Parallel Composer contains many components: Intel® C++ Compiler, Intel® Parallel Debugger Extension, IDE integration, Intel® Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP), Intel® Threading Building Blocks (TBB) and documentation.
Within the IDE you should see a toolbar for using the Intel C++ Compiler/IPP/TBB and a separate toolbar for using the Intel Parallel Debugger Extension.
Under the Tools Option dialog, you will see a new page “Intel Parallel Composer” to set the default compiler and default options used within the IDE.
Once a project is configured to use the Intel Parallel Composer, a new icon image will appear on the left of the project name in Solution Explorer. You can then add optimization options specific to the Intel C++ Compiler in the project property dialog.

Q4. Does Intel offer performance/parallelism tools for Linux* on Intel processors?

A. Yes. The products are: Intel® C++ Compiler Professional Edition for Linux*, Intel® Thread Checker for Linux and Intel VTune™ Analyzer for Linux.

Q5. C# usage & support in future?

A. If you are interested in support for C# or another language in future versions of Intel® Parallel Studio, please let us know at the Intel® Parallel Studio User Forum at http://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/intel-parallel-studio/

Q6. The example of the Intel® Parallel Debug Extension on slide 8 shows that a reentrant function can be identified. Can NON-re-entrant functions be identified?

A. No. If you are sure that a function flagged as reentrant in the debugger is safe, you can filter out specific functions from the reentrant function list.

Q7. Is this product targeted primarily at multicore processesors or can it be used in a grid architecture as well - i.e. is there support for IPC within the library?

A. Intel® Parallel Studio is indeed not intended for use for developing high-performance cluster applications. Please see our products for High Performance Computing and specifically look under the column for "Cluster".

This article applies to: Intel® Parallel Composer Knowledge Base