A number of widely used contemporary processors have instruction-set extensions for improved performance in multi-media applications. The aim is to allow operations to proceed on multiple pixels each clock cycle. Such instruction-sets have been incorporated both in specialist DSPchips such as the Texas C62xx (Texas Instruments, 1998) and in general purpose CPU chips like the Intel IA32 (Intel, 2000) or the AMD K6 (Advanced Micro Devices, 1999). These instruction-set extensions are typically based on the Single Instruc tion-stream Multiple Data-stream (SIMD) model in which a single instruction causes the same mathematical operation to be carried out on several operands, or pairs of operands, at the same time. The level or parallelism supported ranges from two floating point operations, at a time on the AMD K6 architecture to 16 byte operations at a time on the Intel P4 architecture. Whereas processor architectures are moving towards greater levels of parallelism, the most widely used programming languages such as C, Java and Delphi are structured around a model of computation in which operations takeplace on a single value at a time. This was appropriate when processors worked this way, but has become an impediment to programmers seeking to make use of the performance offered by multi-media instruction -sets. The introduction of SIMD instruction sets (Peleg et al.

Master the skills you need to take advantage of the booming market for mainframe programmers. Programmers acknowledge that understanding the internals of the machine helps them write more efficient code in cobol, C, and other high-level languages. Whether you are working on a Year 2000 team or setting up an e-commerce application, this book gets you up and running with the skills you'll need to retrofit systems and move mainframe programs into the 21st century. Designed to build skills rapidly and intuitively, Mainframe Assembler Programming: * Teaches you how to program mainframe Assembler on your PC * Starts you programming usable code from day 1, page 1 * Structures all lessons around real-world business applications * Uses the same five data sets throughout, so you get progressively more sophisticated results as you learn. On the enclosed disk you'll find: * PC/370-lets you program and execute mainframe Assembler on your PC * Source code for all examples from the book A rapid introduction or a refresher for experienced programmers, Mainframe Assembler Programming gives you the know-how you need to program for productivity and quality in the mainframe environment.