# Multi-processing and Distributed Computing

An implementation of distributed memory parallel computing is provided by module `Distributed`
as part of the standard library shipped with Julia.

Most modern computers possess more than one CPU, and several computers can be combined together
in a cluster. Harnessing the power of these multiple CPUs allows many computations to be completed
more quickly. There are two major factors that influence performance: the speed of the CPUs themselves,
and the speed of their access to memory. In a cluster, it's fairly obvious that a given CPU will
have fastest access to the RAM within the same computer (node). Perhaps more surprisingly, similar
issues are relevant on a typical multicore laptop, due to differences in the speed of main memory
and the [cache](https://www.akkadia.org/drepper/cpumemory.pdf). Consequently, a good multiprocessing
environment should allow control over the "ownership" of a chunk of memory by a particular CPU.
Julia provides a multiprocessing environment based on message passing to allow programs to run
on multiple processes in separate memory domains at once.

Julia's implementation of message passing is different from other environments such as MPI[^1].
Communication in Julia is generally "one-sided", meaning that the programmer needs to explicitly
manage only one process in a two-process operation. Furthermore, these operations typically do
not look like "message send" and "message receive" but rather resemble higher-level operations
like calls to user functions.

Distributed programming in Julia is built on two primitives: *remote references* and *remote calls*.
A remote reference is an object that can be used from any process to refer to an object stored
on a particular process. A remote call is a request by one process to call a certain function
on certain arguments on another (possibly the same) process.

Remote references come in two flavors: [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) and [`RemoteChannel`](@ref).

A remote call returns a [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) to its result. Remote calls return immediately; the process
that made the call proceeds to its next operation while the remote call happens somewhere else.
You can wait for a remote call to finish by calling [`wait`](@ref) on the returned [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future),
and you can obtain the full value of the result using [`fetch`](@ref).

On the other hand, [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) s are rewritable. For example, multiple processes can
co-ordinate their processing by referencing the same remote `Channel`.

Each process has an associated identifier. The process providing the interactive Julia prompt
always has an `id` equal to 1. The processes used by default for parallel operations are referred
to as "workers". When there is only one process, process 1 is considered a worker. Otherwise,
workers are considered to be all processes other than process 1. As a result, adding 2 or more
processes is required to gain benefits from parallel processing methods like [`pmap`](@ref). Adding
a single process is beneficial if you just wish to do other things in the main process while a long
computation is running on the worker.

Let's try this out. Starting with `julia -p n` provides `n` worker processes on the local machine.
Generally it makes sense for `n` to equal the number of CPU threads (logical cores) on the machine. Note that the `-p`
argument implicitly loads module `Distributed`.


```julia
$ ./julia -p 2

julia> r = remotecall(rand, 2, 2, 2)
Future(2, 1, 4, nothing)

julia> s = @spawnat 2 1 .+ fetch(r)
Future(2, 1, 5, nothing)

julia> fetch(s)
2×2 Array{Float64,2}:
 1.18526  1.50912
 1.16296  1.60607
```

The first argument to [`remotecall`](@ref) is the function to call. Most parallel programming
in Julia does not reference specific processes or the number of processes available, but [`remotecall`](@ref)
is considered a low-level interface providing finer control. The second argument to [`remotecall`](@ref)
is the `id` of the process that will do the work, and the remaining arguments will be passed to
the function being called.

As you can see, in the first line we asked process 2 to construct a 2-by-2 random matrix, and
in the second line we asked it to add 1 to it. The result of both calculations is available in
the two futures, `r` and `s`. The [`@spawnat`](@ref) macro evaluates the expression in the second
argument on the process specified by the first argument.

Occasionally you might want a remotely-computed value immediately. This typically happens when
you read from a remote object to obtain data needed by the next local operation. The function
[`remotecall_fetch`](@ref) exists for this purpose. It is equivalent to `fetch(remotecall(...))`
but is more efficient.

```julia-repl
julia> remotecall_fetch(getindex, 2, r, 1, 1)
0.18526337335308085
```

Remember that [`getindex(r,1,1)`](@ref) is [equivalent](@ref man-array-indexing) to `r[1,1]`, so this call fetches
the first element of the future `r`.

To make things easier, the symbol `:any` can be passed to [`@spawnat`], which picks where to do
the operation for you:

```julia-repl
julia> r = @spawnat :any rand(2,2)
Future(2, 1, 4, nothing)

julia> s = @spawnat :any 1 .+ fetch(r)
Future(3, 1, 5, nothing)

julia> fetch(s)
2×2 Array{Float64,2}:
 1.38854  1.9098
 1.20939  1.57158
```

Note that we used `1 .+ fetch(r)` instead of `1 .+ r`. This is because we do not know where the
code will run, so in general a [`fetch`](@ref) might be required to move `r` to the process
doing the addition. In this case, [`@spawnat`](@ref) is smart enough to perform the computation
on the process that owns `r`, so the [`fetch`](@ref) will be a no-op (no work is done).

(It is worth noting that [`@spawnat`](@ref) is not built-in but defined in Julia as a [macro](@ref man-macros).
It is possible to define your own such constructs.)

An important thing to remember is that, once fetched, a [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) will cache its value
locally. Further [`fetch`](@ref) calls do not entail a network hop. Once all referencing [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future)s
have fetched, the remote stored value is deleted.

[`@async`](@ref) is similar to [`@spawnat`](@ref), but only runs tasks on the local process. We
use it to create a "feeder" task for each process. Each task picks the next index that needs to
be computed, then waits for its process to finish, then repeats until we run out of indices. Note
that the feeder tasks do not begin to execute until the main task reaches the end of the [`@sync`](@ref)
block, at which point it surrenders control and waits for all the local tasks to complete before
returning from the function.
As for v0.7 and beyond, the feeder tasks are able to share state via `nextidx` because
they all run on the same process.
Even if `Tasks` are scheduled cooperatively, locking may still be required in some contexts, as in
[asynchronous I/O](@ref faq-async-io).
This means context switches only occur at well-defined points: in this case,
when [`remotecall_fetch`](@ref) is called. This is the current state of implementation and it may change
for future Julia versions, as it is intended to make it possible to run up to N `Tasks` on M `Process`, aka
[M:N Threading](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_(computing)#Models). Then a lock acquiring\releasing
model for `nextidx` will be needed, as it is not safe to let multiple processes read-write a resource at
the same time.



## [Code Availability and Loading Packages](@id code-availability)

Your code must be available on any process that runs it. For example, type the following into
the Julia prompt:

```julia-repl
julia> function rand2(dims...)
           return 2*rand(dims...)
       end

julia> rand2(2,2)
2×2 Array{Float64,2}:
 0.153756  0.368514
 1.15119   0.918912

julia> fetch(@spawnat :any rand2(2,2))
ERROR: RemoteException(2, CapturedException(UndefVarError(Symbol("#rand2"))
Stacktrace:
[...]
```

Process 1 knew about the function `rand2`, but process 2 did not.

Most commonly you'll be loading code from files or packages, and you have a considerable amount
of flexibility in controlling which processes load code. Consider a file, `DummyModule.jl`,
containing the following code:

```julia
module DummyModule

export MyType, f

mutable struct MyType
    a::Int
end

f(x) = x^2+1

println("loaded")

end
```

In order to refer to `MyType` across all processes, `DummyModule.jl` needs to be loaded on
every process.  Calling `include("DummyModule.jl")` loads it only on a single process.  To
load it on every process, use the [`@everywhere`](@ref) macro (starting Julia with `julia -p
2`):

```julia-repl
julia> @everywhere include("DummyModule.jl")
loaded
      From worker 3:    loaded
      From worker 2:    loaded
```

As usual, this does not bring `DummyModule` into scope on any of the process, which requires
`using` or `import`.  Moreover, when `DummyModule` is brought into scope on one process, it
is not on any other:

```julia-repl
julia> using .DummyModule

julia> MyType(7)
MyType(7)

julia> fetch(@spawnat 2 MyType(7))
ERROR: On worker 2:
UndefVarError: MyType not defined
⋮

julia> fetch(@spawnat 2 DummyModule.MyType(7))
MyType(7)
```

However, it's still possible, for instance, to send a `MyType` to a process which has loaded
`DummyModule` even if it's not in scope:

```julia-repl
julia> put!(RemoteChannel(2), MyType(7))
RemoteChannel{Channel{Any}}(2, 1, 13)
```

A file can also be preloaded on multiple processes at startup with the `-L` flag, and a
driver script can be used to drive the computation:

```
julia -p <n> -L file1.jl -L file2.jl driver.jl
```

The Julia process running the driver script in the example above has an `id` equal to 1, just
like a process providing an interactive prompt.

Finally, if `DummyModule.jl` is not a standalone file but a package, then `using
DummyModule` will _load_ `DummyModule.jl` on all processes, but only bring it into scope on
the process where `using` was called.

## Starting and managing worker processes

The base Julia installation has in-built support for two types of clusters:

  * A local cluster specified with the `-p` option as shown above.
  * A cluster spanning machines using the `--machine-file` option. This uses a passwordless `ssh` login
    to start Julia worker processes (from the same path as the current host) on the specified machines.

Functions [`addprocs`](@ref), [`rmprocs`](@ref), [`workers`](@ref), and others are available
as a programmatic means of adding, removing and querying the processes in a cluster.

```julia-repl
julia> using Distributed

julia> addprocs(2)
2-element Array{Int64,1}:
 2
 3
```

Module `Distributed` must be explicitly loaded on the master process before invoking [`addprocs`](@ref).
It is automatically made available on the worker processes.

Note that workers do not run a `~/.julia/config/startup.jl` startup script, nor do they synchronize
their global state (such as global variables, new method definitions, and loaded modules) with any
of the other running processes. You may use `addprocs(exeflags="--project")` to initialize a worker with
a particular environment, and then `@everywhere using <modulename>` or `@everywhere include("file.jl")`.

Other types of clusters can be supported by writing your own custom `ClusterManager`, as described
below in the [ClusterManagers](@ref) section.

## Data Movement

Sending messages and moving data constitute most of the overhead in a distributed program. Reducing
the number of messages and the amount of data sent is critical to achieving performance and scalability.
To this end, it is important to understand the data movement performed by Julia's various distributed
programming constructs.

[`fetch`](@ref) can be considered an explicit data movement operation, since it directly asks
that an object be moved to the local machine. [`@spawnat`](@ref) (and a few related constructs)
also moves data, but this is not as obvious, hence it can be called an implicit data movement
operation. Consider these two approaches to constructing and squaring a random matrix:

Method 1:

```julia-repl
julia> A = rand(1000,1000);

julia> Bref = @spawnat :any A^2;

[...]

julia> fetch(Bref);
```

Method 2:

```julia-repl
julia> Bref = @spawnat :any rand(1000,1000)^2;

[...]

julia> fetch(Bref);
```

The difference seems trivial, but in fact is quite significant due to the behavior of [`@spawnat`](@ref).
In the first method, a random matrix is constructed locally, then sent to another process where
it is squared. In the second method, a random matrix is both constructed and squared on another
process. Therefore the second method sends much less data than the first.

In this toy example, the two methods are easy to distinguish and choose from. However, in a real
program designing data movement might require more thought and likely some measurement. For example,
if the first process needs matrix `A` then the first method might be better. Or, if computing
`A` is expensive and only the current process has it, then moving it to another process might
be unavoidable. Or, if the current process has very little to do between the [`@spawnat`](@ref)
and `fetch(Bref)`, it might be better to eliminate the parallelism altogether. Or imagine `rand(1000,1000)`
is replaced with a more expensive operation. Then it might make sense to add another [`@spawnat`](@ref)
statement just for this step.

## Global variables
Expressions executed remotely via `@spawnat`, or closures specified for remote execution using
`remotecall` may refer to global variables. Global bindings under module `Main` are treated
a little differently compared to global bindings in other modules. Consider the following code
snippet:

```julia-repl
A = rand(10,10)
remotecall_fetch(()->sum(A), 2)
```

In this case [`sum`](@ref) MUST be defined in the remote process.
Note that `A` is a global variable defined in the local workspace. Worker 2 does not have a variable called
`A` under `Main`. The act of shipping the closure `()->sum(A)` to worker 2 results in `Main.A` being defined
on 2. `Main.A` continues to exist on worker 2 even after the call `remotecall_fetch` returns. Remote calls
with embedded global references (under `Main` module only) manage globals as follows:

- New global bindings are created on destination workers if they are referenced as part of a remote call.

- Global constants are declared as constants on remote nodes too.

- Globals are re-sent to a destination worker only in the context of a remote call, and then only
  if its value has changed. Also, the cluster does not synchronize global bindings across nodes.
  For example:

  ```julia
  A = rand(10,10)
  remotecall_fetch(()->sum(A), 2) # worker 2
  A = rand(10,10)
  remotecall_fetch(()->sum(A), 3) # worker 3
  A = nothing
  ```

  Executing the above snippet results in `Main.A` on worker 2 having a different value from
  `Main.A` on worker 3, while the value of `Main.A` on node 1 is set to `nothing`.

As you may have realized, while memory associated with globals may be collected when they are reassigned
on the master, no such action is taken on the workers as the bindings continue to be valid.
[`clear!`](@ref) can be used to manually reassign specific globals on remote nodes to `nothing` once
they are no longer required. This will release any memory associated with them as part of a regular garbage
collection cycle.

Thus programs should be careful referencing globals in remote calls. In fact, it is preferable to avoid them
altogether if possible. If you must reference globals, consider using `let` blocks to localize global variables.

For example:

```julia-repl
julia> A = rand(10,10);

julia> remotecall_fetch(()->A, 2);

julia> B = rand(10,10);

julia> let B = B
           remotecall_fetch(()->B, 2)
       end;

julia> @fetchfrom 2 InteractiveUtils.varinfo()
name           size summary
––––––––– ––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––
A         800 bytes 10×10 Array{Float64,2}
Base                Module
Core                Module
Main                Module
```

As can be seen, global variable `A` is defined on worker 2, but `B` is captured as a local variable
and hence a binding for `B` does not exist on worker 2.


## Parallel Map and Loops

Fortunately, many useful parallel computations do not require data movement. A common example
is a Monte Carlo simulation, where multiple processes can handle independent simulation trials
simultaneously. We can use [`@spawnat`](@ref) to flip coins on two processes. First, write the following
function in `count_heads.jl`:

```julia
function count_heads(n)
    c::Int = 0
    for i = 1:n
        c += rand(Bool)
    end
    c
end
```

The function `count_heads` simply adds together `n` random bits. Here is how we can perform some
trials on two machines, and add together the results:

```julia-repl
julia> @everywhere include_string(Main, $(read("count_heads.jl", String)), "count_heads.jl")

julia> a = @spawnat :any count_heads(100000000)
Future(2, 1, 6, nothing)

julia> b = @spawnat :any count_heads(100000000)
Future(3, 1, 7, nothing)

julia> fetch(a)+fetch(b)
100001564
```

This example demonstrates a powerful and often-used parallel programming pattern. Many iterations
run independently over several processes, and then their results are combined using some function.
The combination process is called a *reduction*, since it is generally tensor-rank-reducing: a
vector of numbers is reduced to a single number, or a matrix is reduced to a single row or column,
etc. In code, this typically looks like the pattern `x = f(x,v[i])`, where `x` is the accumulator,
`f` is the reduction function, and the `v[i]` are the elements being reduced. It is desirable
for `f` to be associative, so that it does not matter what order the operations are performed
in.

Notice that our use of this pattern with `count_heads` can be generalized. We used two explicit
[`@spawnat`](@ref) statements, which limits the parallelism to two processes. To run on any number
of processes, we can use a *parallel for loop*, running in distributed memory, which can be written
in Julia using [`@distributed`](@ref) like this:

```julia
nheads = @distributed (+) for i = 1:200000000
    Int(rand(Bool))
end
```

This construct implements the pattern of assigning iterations to multiple processes, and combining
them with a specified reduction (in this case `(+)`). The result of each iteration is taken as
the value of the last expression inside the loop. The whole parallel loop expression itself evaluates
to the final answer.

Note that although parallel for loops look like serial for loops, their behavior is dramatically
different. In particular, the iterations do not happen in a specified order, and writes to variables
or arrays will not be globally visible since iterations run on different processes. Any variables
used inside the parallel loop will be copied and broadcast to each process.

For example, the following code will not work as intended:

```julia
a = zeros(100000)
@distributed for i = 1:100000
    a[i] = i
end
```

This code will not initialize all of `a`, since each process will have a separate copy of it.
Parallel for loops like these must be avoided. Fortunately, [Shared Arrays](@ref man-shared-arrays) can be used
to get around this limitation:

```julia
using SharedArrays

a = SharedArray{Float64}(10)
@distributed for i = 1:10
    a[i] = i
end
```

Using "outside" variables in parallel loops is perfectly reasonable if the variables are read-only:

```julia
a = randn(1000)
@distributed (+) for i = 1:100000
    f(a[rand(1:end)])
end
```

Here each iteration applies `f` to a randomly-chosen sample from a vector `a` shared by all processes.

As you could see, the reduction operator can be omitted if it is not needed. In that case, the
loop executes asynchronously, i.e. it spawns independent tasks on all available workers and returns
an array of [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) immediately without waiting for completion. The caller can wait for
the [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) completions at a later point by calling [`fetch`](@ref) on them, or wait
for completion at the end of the loop by prefixing it with [`@sync`](@ref), like `@sync @distributed for`.

In some cases no reduction operator is needed, and we merely wish to apply a function to all integers
in some range (or, more generally, to all elements in some collection). This is another useful
operation called *parallel map*, implemented in Julia as the [`pmap`](@ref) function. For example,
we could compute the singular values of several large random matrices in parallel as follows:

```julia-repl
julia> M = Matrix{Float64}[rand(1000,1000) for i = 1:10];

julia> pmap(svdvals, M);
```

Julia's [`pmap`](@ref) is designed for the case where each function call does a large amount
of work. In contrast, `@distributed for` can handle situations where each iteration is tiny, perhaps
merely summing two numbers. Only worker processes are used by both [`pmap`](@ref) and `@distributed for`
for the parallel computation. In case of `@distributed for`, the final reduction is done on the calling
process.

## Remote References and AbstractChannels

Remote references always refer to an implementation of an `AbstractChannel`.

A concrete implementation of an `AbstractChannel` (like `Channel`), is required to implement
[`put!`](@ref), [`take!`](@ref), [`fetch`](@ref), [`isready`](@ref) and [`wait`](@ref).
The remote object referred to by a [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) is stored in a `Channel{Any}(1)`, i.e., a
`Channel` of size 1 capable of holding objects of `Any` type.

[`RemoteChannel`](@ref), which is rewritable, can point to any type and size of channels, or any
other implementation of an `AbstractChannel`.

The constructor `RemoteChannel(f::Function, pid)()` allows us to construct references to channels
holding more than one value of a specific type. `f` is a function executed on `pid` and it must
return an `AbstractChannel`.

For example, `RemoteChannel(()->Channel{Int}(10), pid)`, will return a reference to a channel
of type `Int` and size 10. The channel exists on worker `pid`.

Methods [`put!`](@ref), [`take!`](@ref), [`fetch`](@ref), [`isready`](@ref) and [`wait`](@ref)
on a [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) are proxied onto the backing store on the remote process.

[`RemoteChannel`](@ref) can thus be used to refer to user implemented `AbstractChannel` objects.
A simple example of this is provided in `dictchannel.jl` in the
[Examples repository](https://github.com/JuliaAttic/Examples), which uses a dictionary as its
remote store.


## Channels and RemoteChannels

  * A [`Channel`](@ref) is local to a process. Worker 2 cannot directly refer to a [`Channel`](@ref) on worker 3 and
    vice-versa. A [`RemoteChannel`](@ref), however, can put and take values across workers.
  * A [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) can be thought of as a *handle* to a [`Channel`](@ref).
  * The process id, `pid`, associated with a [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) identifies the process where
    the backing store, i.e., the backing [`Channel`](@ref) exists.
  * Any process with a reference to a [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) can put and take items from the channel.
    Data is automatically sent to (or retrieved from) the process a [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) is associated
    with.
  * Serializing  a [`Channel`](@ref) also serializes any data present in the channel. Deserializing it therefore
    effectively makes a copy of the original object.
  * On the other hand, serializing a [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) only involves the serialization of an
    identifier that identifies the location and instance of [`Channel`](@ref) referred to by the handle. A
    deserialized [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) object (on any worker), therefore also points to the same
    backing store as the original.

The channels example from above can be modified for interprocess communication,
as shown below.

We start 4 workers to process a single `jobs` remote channel. Jobs, identified by an id (`job_id`),
are written to the channel. Each remotely executing task in this simulation reads a `job_id`,
waits for a random amount of time and writes back a tuple of `job_id`, time taken and its own
`pid` to the results channel. Finally all the `results` are printed out on the master process.

```julia-repl
julia> addprocs(4); # add worker processes

julia> const jobs = RemoteChannel(()->Channel{Int}(32));

julia> const results = RemoteChannel(()->Channel{Tuple}(32));

julia> @everywhere function do_work(jobs, results) # define work function everywhere
           while true
               job_id = take!(jobs)
               exec_time = rand()
               sleep(exec_time) # simulates elapsed time doing actual work
               put!(results, (job_id, exec_time, myid()))
           end
       end

julia> function make_jobs(n)
           for i in 1:n
               put!(jobs, i)
           end
       end;

julia> n = 12;

julia> @async make_jobs(n); # feed the jobs channel with "n" jobs

julia> for p in workers() # start tasks on the workers to process requests in parallel
           remote_do(do_work, p, jobs, results)
       end

julia> @elapsed while n > 0 # print out results
           job_id, exec_time, where = take!(results)
           println("$job_id finished in $(round(exec_time; digits=2)) seconds on worker $where")
           global n = n - 1
       end
1 finished in 0.18 seconds on worker 4
2 finished in 0.26 seconds on worker 5
6 finished in 0.12 seconds on worker 4
7 finished in 0.18 seconds on worker 4
5 finished in 0.35 seconds on worker 5
4 finished in 0.68 seconds on worker 2
3 finished in 0.73 seconds on worker 3
11 finished in 0.01 seconds on worker 3
12 finished in 0.02 seconds on worker 3
9 finished in 0.26 seconds on worker 5
8 finished in 0.57 seconds on worker 4
10 finished in 0.58 seconds on worker 2
0.055971741
```

### Remote References and Distributed Garbage Collection

Objects referred to by remote references can be freed only when *all* held references
in the cluster are deleted.

The node where the value is stored keeps track of which of the workers have a reference to it.
Every time a [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) or a (unfetched) [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) is serialized to a worker,
the node pointed to by the reference is notified. And every time a [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) or
a (unfetched) [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) is garbage collected locally, the node owning the value is again
notified. This is implemented in an internal cluster aware serializer. Remote references are only
valid in the context of a running cluster. Serializing and deserializing references to and from
regular `IO` objects is not supported.

The notifications are done via sending of "tracking" messages--an "add reference" message when
a reference is serialized to a different process and a "delete reference" message when a reference
is locally garbage collected.

Since [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future)s are write-once and cached locally, the act of [`fetch`](@ref)ing a
[`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) also updates reference tracking information on the node owning the value.

The node which owns the value frees it once all references to it are cleared.

With [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future)s, serializing an already fetched [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) to a different node also
sends the value since the original remote store may have collected the value by this time.

It is important to note that *when* an object is locally garbage collected depends on the size
of the object and the current memory pressure in the system.

In case of remote references, the size of the local reference object is quite small, while the
value stored on the remote node may be quite large. Since the local object may not be collected
immediately, it is a good practice to explicitly call [`finalize`](@ref) on local instances
of a [`RemoteChannel`](@ref), or on unfetched [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future)s. Since calling [`fetch`](@ref)
on a [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) also removes its reference from the remote store, this is not required on
fetched [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future)s. Explicitly calling [`finalize`](@ref) results in an immediate message
sent to the remote node to go ahead and remove its reference to the value.

Once finalized, a reference becomes invalid and cannot be used in any further calls.


## Local invocations

Data is necessarily copied over to the remote node for execution. This is the case for both
remotecalls and when data is stored to a[`RemoteChannel`](@ref) / [`Future`](@ref Distributed.Future) on
a different node. As expected, this results in a copy of the serialized objects
on the remote node. However, when the destination node is the local node, i.e.
the calling process id is the same as the remote node id, it is executed
as a local call. It is usually(not always) executed in a different task - but there is no
serialization/deserialization of data. Consequently, the call refers to the same object instances
as passed - no copies are created. This behavior is highlighted below:

```julia-repl
julia> using Distributed;

julia> rc = RemoteChannel(()->Channel(3));   # RemoteChannel created on local node

julia> v = [0];

julia> for i in 1:3
           v[1] = i                          # Reusing `v`
           put!(rc, v)
       end;

julia> result = [take!(rc) for _ in 1:3];

julia> println(result);
Array{Int64,1}[[3], [3], [3]]

julia> println("Num Unique objects : ", length(unique(map(objectid, result))));
Num Unique objects : 1

julia> addprocs(1);

julia> rc = RemoteChannel(()->Channel(3), workers()[1]);   # RemoteChannel created on remote node

julia> v = [0];

julia> for i in 1:3
           v[1] = i
           put!(rc, v)
       end;

julia> result = [take!(rc) for _ in 1:3];

julia> println(result);
Array{Int64,1}[[1], [2], [3]]

julia> println("Num Unique objects : ", length(unique(map(objectid, result))));
Num Unique objects : 3
```

As can be seen, [`put!`](@ref) on a locally owned [`RemoteChannel`](@ref) with the same
object `v` modifed between calls results in the same single object instance stored. As
opposed to copies of `v` being created when the node owning `rc` is a different node.

It is to be noted that this is generally not an issue. It is something to be factored in only
if the object is both being stored locally and modifed post the call. In such cases it may be
appropriate to store a `deepcopy` of the object.

This is also true for remotecalls on the local node as seen in the following example:

```julia-repl
julia> using Distributed; addprocs(1);

julia> v = [0];

julia> v2 = remotecall_fetch(x->(x[1] = 1; x), myid(), v);     # Executed on local node

julia> println("v=$v, v2=$v2, ", v === v2);
v=[1], v2=[1], true

julia> v = [0];

julia> v2 = remotecall_fetch(x->(x[1] = 1; x), workers()[1], v); # Executed on remote node

julia> println("v=$v, v2=$v2, ", v === v2);
v=[0], v2=[1], false
```

As can be seen once again, a remote call onto the local node behaves just like a direct invocation.
The call modifies local objects passed as arguments. In the remote invocation, it operates on
a copy of the arguments.

To repeat, in general this is not an issue. If the local node is also being used as a compute
node, and the arguments used post the call, this behavior needs to be factored in and if required
deep copies of arguments must be passed to the call invoked on the local node. Calls on remote nodes
will always operate on copies of arguments.



## [Shared Arrays](@id man-shared-arrays)

Shared Arrays use system shared memory to map the same array across many processes. While there
are some similarities to a [`DArray`](https://github.com/JuliaParallel/DistributedArrays.jl), the
behavior of a [`SharedArray`](@ref) is quite different. In a [`DArray`](https://github.com/JuliaParallel/DistributedArrays.jl),
each process has local access to just a chunk of the data, and no two processes share the same
chunk; in contrast, in a [`SharedArray`](@ref) each "participating" process has access to the
entire array.  A [`SharedArray`](@ref) is a good choice when you want to have a large amount of
data jointly accessible to two or more processes on the same machine.

Shared Array support is available via module `SharedArrays` which must be explicitly loaded on
all participating workers.

[`SharedArray`](@ref) indexing (assignment and accessing values) works just as with regular arrays,
and is efficient because the underlying memory is available to the local process. Therefore,
most algorithms work naturally on [`SharedArray`](@ref)s, albeit in single-process mode. In cases
where an algorithm insists on an [`Array`](@ref) input, the underlying array can be retrieved
from a [`SharedArray`](@ref) by calling [`sdata`](@ref). For other `AbstractArray` types, [`sdata`](@ref)
just returns the object itself, so it's safe to use [`sdata`](@ref) on any `Array`-type object.

The constructor for a shared array is of the form:

```julia
SharedArray{T,N}(dims::NTuple; init=false, pids=Int[])
```

which creates an `N`-dimensional shared array of a bits type `T` and size `dims` across the processes specified
by `pids`. Unlike distributed arrays, a shared array is accessible only from those participating
workers specified by the `pids` named argument (and the creating process too, if it is on the
same host). Note that only elements that are [`isbits`](@ref) are supported in a SharedArray.

If an `init` function, of signature `initfn(S::SharedArray)`, is specified, it is called on all
the participating workers. You can specify that each worker runs the `init` function on a distinct
portion of the array, thereby parallelizing initialization.

Here's a brief example:

```julia-repl
julia> using Distributed

julia> addprocs(3)
3-element Array{Int64,1}:
 2
 3
 4

julia> @everywhere using SharedArrays

julia> S = SharedArray{Int,2}((3,4), init = S -> S[localindices(S)] = repeat([myid()], length(localindices(S))))
3×4 SharedArray{Int64,2}:
 2  2  3  4
 2  3  3  4
 2  3  4  4

julia> S[3,2] = 7
7

julia> S
3×4 SharedArray{Int64,2}:
 2  2  3  4
 2  3  3  4
 2  7  4  4
```

[`SharedArrays.localindices`](@ref) provides disjoint one-dimensional ranges of indices, and is sometimes
convenient for splitting up tasks among processes. You can, of course, divide the work any way
you wish:

```julia-repl
julia> S = SharedArray{Int,2}((3,4), init = S -> S[indexpids(S):length(procs(S)):length(S)] = repeat([myid()], length( indexpids(S):length(procs(S)):length(S))))
3×4 SharedArray{Int64,2}:
 2  2  2  2
 3  3  3  3
 4  4  4  4
```

Since all processes have access to the underlying data, you do have to be careful not to set up
conflicts. For example:

```julia
@sync begin
    for p in procs(S)
        @async begin
            remotecall_wait(fill!, p, S, p)
        end
    end
end
```

would result in undefined behavior. Because each process fills the *entire* array with its own
`pid`, whichever process is the last to execute (for any particular element of `S`) will have
its `pid` retained.

As a more extended and complex example, consider running the following "kernel" in parallel:

```julia
q[i,j,t+1] = q[i,j,t] + u[i,j,t]
```

In this case, if we try to split up the work using a one-dimensional index, we are likely to run
into trouble: if `q[i,j,t]` is near the end of the block assigned to one worker and `q[i,j,t+1]`
is near the beginning of the block assigned to another, it's very likely that `q[i,j,t]` will
not be ready at the time it's needed for computing `q[i,j,t+1]`. In such cases, one is better
off chunking the array manually. Let's split along the second dimension.
Define a function that returns the `(irange, jrange)` indices assigned to this worker:

```julia-repl
julia> @everywhere function myrange(q::SharedArray)
           idx = indexpids(q)
           if idx == 0 # This worker is not assigned a piece
               return 1:0, 1:0
           end
           nchunks = length(procs(q))
           splits = [round(Int, s) for s in range(0, stop=size(q,2), length=nchunks+1)]
           1:size(q,1), splits[idx]+1:splits[idx+1]
       end
```

Next, define the kernel:

```julia-repl
julia> @everywhere function advection_chunk!(q, u, irange, jrange, trange)
           @show (irange, jrange, trange)  # display so we can see what's happening
           for t in trange, j in jrange, i in irange
               q[i,j,t+1] = q[i,j,t] + u[i,j,t]
           end
           q
       end
```

We also define a convenience wrapper for a `SharedArray` implementation

```julia-repl
julia> @everywhere advection_shared_chunk!(q, u) =
           advection_chunk!(q, u, myrange(q)..., 1:size(q,3)-1)
```

Now let's compare three different versions, one that runs in a single process:

```julia-repl
julia> advection_serial!(q, u) = advection_chunk!(q, u, 1:size(q,1), 1:size(q,2), 1:size(q,3)-1);
```

one that uses [`@distributed`](@ref):

```julia-repl
julia> function advection_parallel!(q, u)
           for t = 1:size(q,3)-1
               @sync @distributed for j = 1:size(q,2)
                   for i = 1:size(q,1)
                       q[i,j,t+1]= q[i,j,t] + u[i,j,t]
                   end
               end
           end
           q
       end;
```

and one that delegates in chunks:

```julia-repl
julia> function advection_shared!(q, u)
           @sync begin
               for p in procs(q)
                   @async remotecall_wait(advection_shared_chunk!, p, q, u)
               end
           end
           q
       end;
```

If we create `SharedArray`s and time these functions, we get the following results (with `julia -p 4`):

```julia-repl
julia> q = SharedArray{Float64,3}((500,500,500));

julia> u = SharedArray{Float64,3}((500,500,500));
```

Run the functions once to JIT-compile and [`@time`](@ref) them on the second run:

```julia-repl
julia> @time advection_serial!(q, u);
(irange,jrange,trange) = (1:500,1:500,1:499)
 830.220 milliseconds (216 allocations: 13820 bytes)

julia> @time advection_parallel!(q, u);
   2.495 seconds      (3999 k allocations: 289 MB, 2.09% gc time)

julia> @time advection_shared!(q,u);
        From worker 2:       (irange,jrange,trange) = (1:500,1:125,1:499)
        From worker 4:       (irange,jrange,trange) = (1:500,251:375,1:499)
        From worker 3:       (irange,jrange,trange) = (1:500,126:250,1:499)
        From worker 5:       (irange,jrange,trange) = (1:500,376:500,1:499)
 238.119 milliseconds (2264 allocations: 169 KB)
```

The biggest advantage of `advection_shared!` is that it minimizes traffic among the workers, allowing
each to compute for an extended time on the assigned piece.

### Shared Arrays and Distributed Garbage Collection

Like remote references, shared arrays are also dependent on garbage collection on the creating
node to release references from all participating workers. Code which creates many short lived
shared array objects would benefit from explicitly finalizing these objects as soon as possible.
This results in both memory and file handles mapping the shared segment being released sooner.

## ClusterManagers

The launching, management and networking of Julia processes into a logical cluster is done via
cluster managers. A `ClusterManager` is responsible for

  * launching worker processes in a cluster environment
  * managing events during the lifetime of each worker
  * optionally, providing data transport

A Julia cluster has the following characteristics:

  * The initial Julia process, also called the `master`, is special and has an `id` of 1.
  * Only the `master` process can add or remove worker processes.
  * All processes can directly communicate with each other.

Connections between workers (using the in-built TCP/IP transport) is established in the following
manner:

  * [`addprocs`](@ref) is called on the master process with a `ClusterManager` object.
  * [`addprocs`](@ref) calls the appropriate [`launch`](@ref) method which spawns required number
    of worker processes on appropriate machines.
  * Each worker starts listening on a free port and writes out its host and port information to [`stdout`](@ref).
  * The cluster manager captures the [`stdout`](@ref) of each worker and makes it available to the
    master process.
  * The master process parses this information and sets up TCP/IP connections to each worker.
  * Every worker is also notified of other workers in the cluster.
  * Each worker connects to all workers whose `id` is less than the worker's own `id`.
  * In this way a mesh network is established, wherein every worker is directly connected with every
    other worker.

While the default transport layer uses plain [`TCPSocket`](@ref), it is possible for a Julia cluster to
provide its own transport.

Julia provides two in-built cluster managers:

  * `LocalManager`, used when [`addprocs()`](@ref) or [`addprocs(np::Integer)`](@ref) are called
  * `SSHManager`, used when [`addprocs(hostnames::Array)`](@ref) is called with a list of hostnames

`LocalManager` is used to launch additional workers on the same host, thereby leveraging multi-core
and multi-processor hardware.

Thus, a minimal cluster manager would need to:

  * be a subtype of the abstract `ClusterManager`
  * implement [`launch`](@ref), a method responsible for launching new workers
  * implement [`manage`](@ref), which is called at various events during a worker's lifetime (for
    example, sending an interrupt signal)

[`addprocs(manager::FooManager)`](@ref addprocs) requires `FooManager` to implement:

```julia
function launch(manager::FooManager, params::Dict, launched::Array, c::Condition)
    [...]
end

function manage(manager::FooManager, id::Integer, config::WorkerConfig, op::Symbol)
    [...]
end
```

As an example let us see how the `LocalManager`, the manager responsible for starting workers
on the same host, is implemented:

```julia
struct LocalManager <: ClusterManager
    np::Integer
end

function launch(manager::LocalManager, params::Dict, launched::Array, c::Condition)
    [...]
end

function manage(manager::LocalManager, id::Integer, config::WorkerConfig, op::Symbol)
    [...]
end
```

The [`launch`](@ref) method takes the following arguments:

  * `manager::ClusterManager`: the cluster manager that [`addprocs`](@ref) is called with
  * `params::Dict`: all the keyword arguments passed to [`addprocs`](@ref)
  * `launched::Array`: the array to append one or more `WorkerConfig` objects to
  * `c::Condition`: the condition variable to be notified as and when workers are launched

The [`launch`](@ref) method is called asynchronously in a separate task. The termination of
this task signals that all requested workers have been launched. Hence the [`launch`](@ref)
function MUST exit as soon as all the requested workers have been launched.

Newly launched workers are connected to each other and the master process in an all-to-all manner.
Specifying the command line argument `--worker[=<cookie>]` results in the launched processes
initializing themselves as workers and connections being set up via TCP/IP sockets.

All workers in a cluster share the same [cookie](@ref man-cluster-cookie) as the master. When the cookie is
unspecified, i.e, with the `--worker` option, the worker tries to read it from its standard input.
 `LocalManager` and `SSHManager` both pass the cookie to newly launched workers via their
 standard inputs.

By default a worker will listen on a free port at the address returned by a call to [`getipaddr()`](@ref).
A specific address to listen on may be specified by optional argument `--bind-to bind_addr[:port]`.
This is useful for multi-homed hosts.

As an example of a non-TCP/IP transport, an implementation may choose to use MPI, in which case
`--worker` must NOT be specified. Instead, newly launched workers should call `init_worker(cookie)`
before using any of the parallel constructs.

For every worker launched, the [`launch`](@ref) method must add a `WorkerConfig` object (with
appropriate fields initialized) to `launched`

```julia
mutable struct WorkerConfig
    # Common fields relevant to all cluster managers
    io::Union{IO, Nothing}
    host::Union{AbstractString, Nothing}
    port::Union{Integer, Nothing}

    # Used when launching additional workers at a host
    count::Union{Int, Symbol, Nothing}
    exename::Union{AbstractString, Cmd, Nothing}
    exeflags::Union{Cmd, Nothing}

    # External cluster managers can use this to store information at a per-worker level
    # Can be a dict if multiple fields need to be stored.
    userdata::Any

    # SSHManager / SSH tunnel connections to workers
    tunnel::Union{Bool, Nothing}
    bind_addr::Union{AbstractString, Nothing}
    sshflags::Union{Cmd, Nothing}
    max_parallel::Union{Integer, Nothing}

    # Used by Local/SSH managers
    connect_at::Any

    [...]
end
```

Most of the fields in `WorkerConfig` are used by the inbuilt managers. Custom cluster managers
would typically specify only `io` or `host` / `port`:

  * If `io` is specified, it is used to read host/port information. A Julia worker prints out its
    bind address and port at startup. This allows Julia workers to listen on any free port available
    instead of requiring worker ports to be configured manually.
  * If `io` is not specified, `host` and `port` are used to connect.
  * `count`, `exename` and `exeflags` are relevant for launching additional workers from a worker.
    For example, a cluster manager may launch a single worker per node, and use that to launch additional
    workers.

      * `count` with an integer value `n` will launch a total of `n` workers.
      * `count` with a value of `:auto` will launch as many workers as the number of CPU threads (logical cores) on that machine.
      * `exename` is the name of the `julia` executable including the full path.
      * `exeflags` should be set to the required command line arguments for new workers.
  * `tunnel`, `bind_addr`, `sshflags` and `max_parallel` are used when a ssh tunnel is required to
    connect to the workers from the master process.
  * `userdata` is provided for custom cluster managers to store their own worker-specific information.

`manage(manager::FooManager, id::Integer, config::WorkerConfig, op::Symbol)` is called at different
times during the worker's lifetime with appropriate `op` values:

  * with `:register`/`:deregister` when a worker is added / removed from the Julia worker pool.
  * with `:interrupt` when `interrupt(workers)` is called. The `ClusterManager` should signal the
    appropriate worker with an interrupt signal.
  * with `:finalize` for cleanup purposes.

### Cluster Managers with Custom Transports

Replacing the default TCP/IP all-to-all socket connections with a custom transport layer is a
little more involved. Each Julia process has as many communication tasks as the workers it is
connected to. For example, consider a Julia cluster of 32 processes in an all-to-all mesh network:

  * Each Julia process thus has 31 communication tasks.
  * Each task handles all incoming messages from a single remote worker in a message-processing loop.
  * The message-processing loop waits on an `IO` object (for example, a [`TCPSocket`](@ref) in the default
    implementation), reads an entire message, processes it and waits for the next one.
  * Sending messages to a process is done directly from any Julia task--not just communication tasks--again,
    via the appropriate `IO` object.

Replacing the default transport requires the new implementation to set up connections to remote
workers and to provide appropriate `IO` objects that the message-processing loops can wait on.
The manager-specific callbacks to be implemented are:

```julia
connect(manager::FooManager, pid::Integer, config::WorkerConfig)
kill(manager::FooManager, pid::Int, config::WorkerConfig)
```

The default implementation (which uses TCP/IP sockets) is implemented as `connect(manager::ClusterManager, pid::Integer, config::WorkerConfig)`.

`connect` should return a pair of `IO` objects, one for reading data sent from worker `pid`, and
the other to write data that needs to be sent to worker `pid`. Custom cluster managers can use
an in-memory `BufferStream` as the plumbing to proxy data between the custom, possibly non-`IO`
transport and Julia's in-built parallel infrastructure.

A `BufferStream` is an in-memory [`IOBuffer`](@ref) which behaves like an `IO`--it is a stream which can
be handled asynchronously.

The folder `clustermanager/0mq` in the [Examples repository](https://github.com/JuliaAttic/Examples)
contains an example of using ZeroMQ to connect Julia workers
in a star topology with a 0MQ broker in the middle. Note: The Julia processes are still all *logically*
connected to each other--any worker can message any other worker directly without any awareness
of 0MQ being used as the transport layer.

When using custom transports:

  * Julia workers must NOT be started with `--worker`. Starting with `--worker` will result in the
    newly launched workers defaulting to the TCP/IP socket transport implementation.
  * For every incoming logical connection with a worker, `Base.process_messages(rd::IO, wr::IO)()`
    must be called. This launches a new task that handles reading and writing of messages from/to
    the worker represented by the `IO` objects.
  * `init_worker(cookie, manager::FooManager)` *must* be called as part of worker process initialization.
  * Field `connect_at::Any` in `WorkerConfig` can be set by the cluster manager when [`launch`](@ref)
    is called. The value of this field is passed in all [`connect`](@ref) callbacks. Typically,
    it carries information on *how to connect* to a worker. For example, the TCP/IP socket transport
    uses this field to specify the `(host, port)` tuple at which to connect to a worker.

`kill(manager, pid, config)` is called to remove a worker from the cluster. On the master process,
the corresponding `IO` objects must be closed by the implementation to ensure proper cleanup.
The default implementation simply executes an `exit()` call on the specified remote worker.

The Examples folder `clustermanager/simple` is an example that shows a simple implementation using UNIX domain
sockets for cluster setup.

### Network Requirements for LocalManager and SSHManager

Julia clusters are designed to be executed on already secured environments on infrastructure such
as local laptops, departmental clusters, or even the cloud. This section covers network security
requirements for the inbuilt `LocalManager` and `SSHManager`:

  * The master process does not listen on any port. It only connects out to the workers.
  * Each worker binds to only one of the local interfaces and listens on an ephemeral port number
    assigned by the OS.
  * `LocalManager`, used by `addprocs(N)`, by default binds only to the loopback interface. This means
    that workers started later on remote hosts (or by anyone with malicious intentions) are unable
    to connect to the cluster. An `addprocs(4)` followed by an `addprocs(["remote_host"])` will fail.
    Some users may need to create a cluster comprising their local system and a few remote systems.
    This can be done by explicitly requesting `LocalManager` to bind to an external network interface
    via the `restrict` keyword argument: `addprocs(4; restrict=false)`.
  * `SSHManager`, used by `addprocs(list_of_remote_hosts)`, launches workers on remote hosts via SSH.
    By default SSH is only used to launch Julia workers. Subsequent master-worker and worker-worker
    connections use plain, unencrypted TCP/IP sockets. The remote hosts must have passwordless login
    enabled. Additional SSH flags or credentials may be specified via keyword argument `sshflags`.
  * `addprocs(list_of_remote_hosts; tunnel=true, sshflags=<ssh keys and other flags>)` is useful when
    we wish to use SSH connections for master-worker too. A typical scenario for this is a local laptop
    running the Julia REPL (i.e., the master) with the rest of the cluster on the cloud, say on Amazon
    EC2. In this case only port 22 needs to be opened at the remote cluster coupled with SSH client
    authenticated via public key infrastructure (PKI). Authentication credentials can be supplied
    via `sshflags`, for example ```sshflags=`-i <keyfile>` ```.

    In an all-to-all topology (the default), all workers connect to each other via plain TCP sockets.
    The security policy on the cluster nodes must thus ensure free connectivity between workers for
    the ephemeral port range (varies by OS).

    Securing and encrypting all worker-worker traffic (via SSH) or encrypting individual messages
    can be done via a custom `ClusterManager`.

  * If you specify `multiplex=true` as an option to `addprocs`, SSH multiplexing is used to create
    a tunnel between the master and workers. If you have configured SSH multiplexing on your own and
    the connection has already been established, SSH multiplexing is used regardless of `multiplex`
    option. If multiplexing is enabled, forwarding is set by using the existing connection
    (`-O forward` option in ssh). This is beneficial if your servers require password authentication;
    you can avoid authentication in Julia by logging in to the server ahead of `addprocs`. The control
    socket will be located at `~/.ssh/julia-%r@%h:%p` during the session unless the existing multiplexing
    connection is used. Note that bandwidth may be limited if you create multiple processes on a node
    and enable multiplexing, because in that case processes share a single multiplexing TCP connection.

### [Cluster Cookie](@id man-cluster-cookie)

All processes in a cluster share the same cookie which, by default, is a randomly generated string
on the master process:

  * [`cluster_cookie()`](@ref) returns the cookie, while `cluster_cookie(cookie)()` sets
    it and returns the new cookie.
  * All connections are authenticated on both sides to ensure that only workers started by the master
    are allowed to connect to each other.
  * The cookie may be passed to the workers at startup via argument `--worker=<cookie>`. If argument
    `--worker` is specified without the cookie, the worker tries to read the cookie from its
    standard input ([`stdin`](@ref)). The `stdin` is closed immediately after the cookie is retrieved.
  * `ClusterManager`s can retrieve the cookie on the master by calling [`cluster_cookie()`](@ref).
    Cluster managers not using the default TCP/IP transport (and hence not specifying `--worker`)
    must call `init_worker(cookie, manager)` with the same cookie as on the master.

Note that environments requiring higher levels of security can implement this via a custom `ClusterManager`.
For example, cookies can be pre-shared and hence not specified as a startup argument.

## Specifying Network Topology (Experimental)

The keyword argument `topology` passed to `addprocs` is used to specify how the workers must be
connected to each other:

  * `:all_to_all`, the default: all workers are connected to each other.
  * `:master_worker`: only the driver process, i.e. `pid` 1, has connections to the workers.
  * `:custom`: the `launch` method of the cluster manager specifies the connection topology via the
    fields `ident` and `connect_idents` in `WorkerConfig`. A worker with a cluster-manager-provided
    identity `ident` will connect to all workers specified in `connect_idents`.

Keyword argument `lazy=true|false` only affects `topology` option `:all_to_all`. If `true`, the cluster
starts off with the master connected to all workers. Specific worker-worker connections are established
at the first remote invocation between two workers. This helps in reducing initial resources allocated for
intra-cluster communication. Connections are setup depending on the runtime requirements of a parallel
program. Default value for `lazy` is `true`.

Currently, sending a message between unconnected workers results in an error. This behaviour,
as with the functionality and interface, should be considered experimental in nature and may change
in future releases.

## Noteworthy external packages

Outside of Julia parallelism there are plenty of external packages that should be mentioned.
For example [MPI.jl](https://github.com/JuliaParallel/MPI.jl) is a Julia wrapper for the `MPI` protocol, or
[DistributedArrays.jl](https://github.com/JuliaParallel/Distributedarrays.jl), as presented in [Shared Arrays](@ref).
A mention must be made of Julia's GPU programming ecosystem, which includes:

1. Low-level (C kernel) based operations [OpenCL.jl](https://github.com/JuliaGPU/OpenCL.jl) and [CUDAdrv.jl](https://github.com/JuliaGPU/CUDAdrv.jl) which are respectively an OpenCL interface and a CUDA wrapper.

2. Low-level (Julia Kernel) interfaces like [CUDAnative.jl](https://github.com/JuliaGPU/CUDAnative.jl) which is a Julia native CUDA implementation.

3. High-level vendor-specific abstractions like [CuArrays.jl](https://github.com/JuliaGPU/CuArrays.jl) and [CLArrays.jl](https://github.com/JuliaGPU/CLArrays.jl)

4. High-level libraries like [ArrayFire.jl](https://github.com/JuliaComputing/ArrayFire.jl) and [GPUArrays.jl](https://github.com/JuliaGPU/GPUArrays.jl)


In the following example we will use both `DistributedArrays.jl` and `CuArrays.jl` to distribute an array across multiple
processes by first casting it through `distribute()` and `CuArray()`.

Remember when importing `DistributedArrays.jl` to import it across all processes using [`@everywhere`](@ref)


```julia-repl
$ ./julia -p 4

julia> addprocs()

julia> @everywhere using DistributedArrays

julia> using CuArrays

julia> B = ones(10_000) ./ 2;

julia> A = ones(10_000) .* π;

julia> C = 2 .* A ./ B;

julia> all(C .≈ 4*π)
true

julia> typeof(C)
Array{Float64,1}

julia> dB = distribute(B);

julia> dA = distribute(A);

julia> dC = 2 .* dA ./ dB;

julia> all(dC .≈ 4*π)
true

julia> typeof(dC)
DistributedArrays.DArray{Float64,1,Array{Float64,1}}

julia> cuB = CuArray(B);

julia> cuA = CuArray(A);

julia> cuC = 2 .* cuA ./ cuB;

julia> all(cuC .≈ 4*π);
true

julia> typeof(cuC)
CuArray{Float64,1}
```
Keep in mind that some Julia features are not currently supported by CUDAnative.jl[^2] , especially some functions like `sin` will need to be replaced with `CUDAnative.sin`(cc: @maleadt).

In the following example we will use both `DistributedArrays.jl` and `CuArrays.jl` to distribute an array across multiple
processes and call a generic function on it.

```julia
function power_method(M, v)
    for i in 1:100
        v = M*v
        v /= norm(v)
    end

    return v, norm(M*v) / norm(v)  # or  (M*v) ./ v
end
```

`power_method` repeatedly creates a new vector and normalizes it. We have not specified any type signature in
function declaration, let's see if it works with the aforementioned datatypes:

```julia-repl
julia> M = [2. 1; 1 1];

julia> v = rand(2)
2-element Array{Float64,1}:
0.40395
0.445877

julia> power_method(M,v)
([0.850651, 0.525731], 2.618033988749895)

julia> cuM = CuArray(M);

julia> cuv = CuArray(v);

julia> curesult = power_method(cuM, cuv);

julia> typeof(curesult)
CuArray{Float64,1}

julia> dM = distribute(M);

julia> dv = distribute(v);

julia> dC = power_method(dM, dv);

julia> typeof(dC)
Tuple{DistributedArrays.DArray{Float64,1,Array{Float64,1}},Float64}
```

To end this short exposure to external packages, we can consider `MPI.jl`, a Julia wrapper
of the MPI protocol. As it would take too long to consider every inner function, it would be better
to simply appreciate the approach used to implement the protocol.

Consider this toy script which simply calls each subprocess, instantiate its rank and when the master
process is reached, performs the ranks' sum

```julia
import MPI

MPI.Init()

comm = MPI.COMM_WORLD
MPI.Barrier(comm)

root = 0
r = MPI.Comm_rank(comm)

sr = MPI.Reduce(r, MPI.SUM, root, comm)

if(MPI.Comm_rank(comm) == root)
   @printf("sum of ranks: %s\n", sr)
end

MPI.Finalize()
```

```
mpirun -np 4 ./julia example.jl
```

[^1]:
    In this context, MPI refers to the MPI-1 standard. Beginning with MPI-2, the MPI standards committee
    introduced a new set of communication mechanisms, collectively referred to as Remote Memory Access
    (RMA). The motivation for adding rma to the MPI standard was to facilitate one-sided communication
    patterns. For additional information on the latest MPI standard, see <https://mpi-forum.org/docs>.

[^2]:
    [Julia GPU man pages](http://juliagpu.github.io/CUDAnative.jl/stable/man/usage.html#Julia-support-1)
