Parallel computing in .NET

Question

Since the launch of .NET 4.0 a new term that has got into the limelight is parallel computing. Does parallel computing provide us some benefits or is it just another concept or feature? Further is .NET really going to use it in applications?

Further is parallel computing different from parallel programming?

Kindly throw some light on the issue in perspective of .NET and some examples would be helpful.

ADD --> A good article describing the .NET and parallel computing is here.

Answer 1

It is not exactly a new term, just a new emphasis.

And yes, more programmers will have to create more parallel code if they want to profit from new hardware. See "the free lunch is over"

Further is parallel computing different from parallel programming ?

No

And here are some samples on MSDN (The PLINQ raytracer is cool)

Answer 2

You use parallel programming methods to enable parallel computing of your operations. .NET will utilize it if you tell it to via code.

The benefit to parallel computing is overall speed of execution. As you may have noticed over the past few years, processors aren't getting any faster, but the number of CPU cores per system is increasing. Parallel programming is the means by which you can take advantage of this form of upgrade, by splitting large jobs into smaller tasks that can be handled concurrently by separate cores.

Answer 3

This answer to the question might help.

Answer 4

A good article describing .NET and parallel computing is here.

I hope this helps.