Dive into high-performance parallel computing with this collection of CUDA Thrust examples and hands-on exercises designed to sharpen your CUDA skills.
This repository isn't just a showcase of code; it's an interactive learning environment. It provides example CUDA samples using NVIDIA's Thrust library, focusing on practical scenarios like particle-based simulations. More importantly, you'll find opportunities to execute the code, experiment, and test your understanding of parallel computing patterns and crucial performance optimization techniques.
Explore the code, then put your knowledge to the test! Each example serves as a basis for exercises designed to reinforce the concepts.
- optimized_max_displacement.cu: Study an optimized approach using iterators to compute maximum displacement between particle sets. (Exercise: Analyze the memory access patterns.)
- performance_comparison.cu: Compare naive vs. optimized methods for particle displacement calculations. (Exercise: Benchmark the code with varying data sizes and analyze the performance difference.)
(Note: Specific exercises might be detailed within the code comments or accompanying materials.)
Through actively working with these examples and exercises, you can gain practical experience with vital CUDA optimization techniques, including:
- Fused Operations: Understand how transform iterators eliminate the need for temporary memory storage.
- Memory Coalescing: Learn to structure data and access patterns for optimal GPU memory bandwidth.
- Work Reduction: Practice minimizing redundant computations and memory transfers.
- Algorithm Selection: Gain insight into choosing and utilizing Thrust's highly-optimized parallel algorithms effectively.
To compile and run the examples and complete the exercises, you'll need:
- CUDA Toolkit 11.0 or higher
- A CUDA-capable NVIDIA GPU
- A C++14 compatible compiler (like
g++orclang++alongsidenvcc)
To compile an example and prepare for testing:
# Navigate to the directory containing the source file
nvcc -std=c++14 -o <executable_name> <source_file.cu>- Replace
<executable_name>with your desired output file name (e.g.,thrust_zip_test). - Replace
<source_file.cu>with the example file you want to compile (e.g.,thrust_zip.cu). - The
-std=c++14flag ensures compatibility with the required C++ standard.
After compiling, you can run the executable directly from your terminal:
./<executable_name>Now you're ready to experiment and learn!