parallel processing

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parallel processing

computing

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July 22, 2026

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Parallel processing is a type of computing where multiple processes are executed simultaneously on multiple processors. This contrasts with concurrent programming, where processes are interleaved over time. Parallel computing is crucial for handling large datasets and complex computations, especially with the growth of the internet and big data.12

This approach involves using multiple central processing units (CPUs) that share memory or communicate via messages. Architectures like hypercubes are studied to optimize processor connections for efficiency. Parallel processing is fundamental to supercomputers, which use numerous CPUs and vector arithmetic to perform complex scientific and engineering tasks, such as climate modeling and drug discovery. Modern CPUs also incorporate techniques like pipelining and superscalar execution to run multiple instructions in parallel, significantly speeding up computations.234

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computer science
Parallel and distributed computing
The simultaneous growth in availability of big data and in the number of simultaneous users on the Internet places particular pressure on the need to carry out computing tasks “in parallel,” or simultaneously. Parallel and distributed computing occurs across many different…
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The simultaneous growth in availability of big data and in the number of simultaneous users on the Internet places particular pressure on the need to carry out computing tasks “in parallel,” or simultaneously. Parallel and distributed computing occurs across many different…
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computer graphics
Processors and programs
…accurate rendering is to use parallel processing, so that in ray shading, for example, multiple rays can be traced at once. Another technique, pipelined parallelism, takes advantage of the fact that graphics processing can be broken into stages—constructing polygons or Bezier surfaces, eliminating hidden surfaces, shading, rasterization, and so on.…
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…accurate rendering is to use parallel processing, so that in ray shading, for example, multiple rays can be traced at once. Another technique, pipelined parallelism, takes advantage of the fact that graphics processing can be broken into stages—constructing polygons or Bezier surfaces, eliminating hidden surfaces, shading, rasterization, and so on.…
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concurrent programming
Parallel computing is similar but with multiple processes being executed at the same time on multiple processors, where more than one processor is used to execute a program or complex of programs running simultaneously. The term parallel computing is also used for programming designed for…
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Parallel computing is similar but with multiple processes being executed at the same time on multiple processors, where more than one processor is used to execute a program or complex of programs running simultaneously. The term parallel computing is also used for programming designed for…
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human intelligence
Cognitive theories
…that cognitive processing is primarily parallel. It has proved difficult, however, to distinguish between serial and parallel models of information processing (just as it had been difficult earlier to distinguish between different factor models of human intelligence). Advanced techniques of mathematical and computer modeling were later applied to this problem.…
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…that cognitive processing is primarily parallel. It has proved difficult, however, to distinguish between serial and parallel models of information processing (just as it had been difficult earlier to distinguish between different factor models of human intelligence). Advanced techniques of mathematical and computer modeling were later applied to this problem.…
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numerical analysis
Effects of computer hardware
…sequential in their operation, but parallel computers are being used ever more widely in public and private research institutions. (See supercomputer.) Shared-memory parallel computers have several independent central processing units (CPUs) that all access the same computer memory, whereas distributed-memory parallel computers have separate memory for each CPU. Another form…
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…sequential in their operation, but parallel computers are being used ever more widely in public and private research institutions. (See supercomputer.) Shared-memory parallel computers have several independent central processing units (CPUs) that all access the same computer memory, whereas distributed-memory parallel computers have separate memory for each CPU. Another form…
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