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Occam and the parallel Playstation



Hi there,
 
I thought this was interesting - a piece about Sony's new Cell architecture for their PlayStation 3 (PSP3). Apparently it is a parallel platform.
 
For some reason I was not surprised to read this:
 
  "However, doubts were raised about its suitability for games playing, and whether software developers could actually exploit its power"
 
  (long article: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1835502,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=20 )
 
 
I wondered whether this was due to a missing language for parallel programming. Elsewhere I found:
 
  "The PlayStation 3's primary programming language will be C, unlike the PS2 which relied heavily on assembly"
 
  http://ps3dev.info/content/view/12/26/
 
 
In my mind this is a commercial example that reinforces the importance of having the right language. If future computing platforms are parallel (whether in the lounge or at work), process-orientation (as in CSP and Occam) is not a nicety but a business requirement.
 
Hope this is of interest to some.
 
 
 
 

Andrew Delin

Microsoft Consulting Services

South Australia

+61 (0)8  8217 7417

mailto:adelin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

http://blogs.msdn.com/andrewdelin