Communications of the ACM
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From Communications of the ACM
The Hyperdimensional Tar Pit
Make a guess, double the number, and then move to the next larger unit of time.
From Communications of the ACM
The Robustness Principle Reconsidered
In 1981, Jon Postel formulated the Robustness Principle. Although described for implementations of TCP, it was quickly accepted as a...
From Communications of the ACM
Computing Without Processors
Heterogeneous systems allow us to target our programming to the appropriate environment.
From Communications of the ACM
The One-Second War
Finding a lasting solution to the leap seconds problem has become increasingly urgent.
From Communications of the ACM
A Co-Relational Model of Data For Large Shared Data Banks
Contrary to popular belief, SQL and noSQL are really just two sides of the same coin.
From Communications of the ACM
Returning Control to the Programmer: SIMD Intrinsics For Virtual Machines
Exposing SIMD units within interpreted languages could simplify programs and unleash floods of untapped processor power.
From Communications of the ACM
A Conversation with Ed Catmull
Pixar's president Ed Catmull sits down with Stanford professor (and former Pixar-ian) Pat Hanrahan to reflect on the blending of art and technology.
From Communications of the ACM
Sir, Please Step Away from the ASR-33!
To move forward with programming languages we must first break free from the tyranny of ASCII.
From Communications of the ACM
Tackling Architectural Complexity with Modeling
Component models can help diagnose architectural problems in both new and existing systems.
From Communications of the ACM
Thinking Clearly About Performance, Part 2
More important principles to keep in mind when designing high-performance software.
From Communications of the ACM
Photoshop Scalability: Keeping It Simple
Clem Cole and Russell Williams discuss Photoshop's long history with parallelism, and what is now seen as the chief challenge.
From Communications of the ACM
Thinking Clearly About Performance, Part 1
Improving the performance of complex software is difficult, but understanding some fundamental principles can make it easier.
From Communications of the ACM
Seven Principles For Selecting Software Packages
Everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask about the decision-making process.
From Communications of the ACM
You're Doing It Wrong
Think you've mastered the art of server performance? Think again.
From Communications of the ACM
Visualizing System Latency
Heat maps are a unique and powerful way to visualize latency data. Explaining the results, however, is an ongoing challenge.
From Communications of the ACM
The Ideal HPC Programming Language
Maybe it's Fortran. Or maybe it just doesn't matter.
From Communications of the ACM
A Tour Through the Visualization Zoo
A survey of powerful visualization techniques, from the obvious to the obscure.
From Communications of the ACM
Simplicity Betrayed
Emulating a video system shows how even a simple interface can be more complex—and capable—than it appears.
From Communications of the ACM
Why Cloud Computing Will Never Be Free
The competition among cloud providers may drive prices downward, but at what cost?
From Communications of the ACM