Language Features for Scalable Distributed-Memory Dataflow Computing

Abstract

Dataflow languages offer a natural means to express concurrency but are not a natural representation of the architectural features of high-performance, distributed-memory computers. When used as the outermost language in a hierarchical programming model, dataflow is very effective at expressing the overall flow of a computation. In this work, we present strategies and techniques used by the Swift dataflow language to obtain good performance on extremely large computing systems. We also present multiple unique language features that offer practical utility and performance enhancements.