Changes

!Week!!Week of...!!Tuesday!!ThursdayFriday!!Deliverables<br/>(Summary - click for details)

|1||Sep 1||(''Experience Seneca'' Orientation - No Class)||[[#Thursday Friday (Sep 45)|Introduction to Software Porting, Portability, Benchmarking, and Optimization/ How is code accepted into an open source project?]]||[[#Week 1 Deliverables|Set up accountsand a Fedora system]]

|2||Sep 8||[[#Tuesday (Sep 9)|How is Code Accepted? - Analyze code submissions in two separate open source projectsComputer Architecture Overview]]||[[#Thursday Friday (Sep 1112)|Computer Architecture OverviewCompiled C Lab]]||rowspan="2"|[[#Week 2 Deliverables|Blog a commentary on code reviews in two communities (Lab 1)and on the Compiled C Code lab (Lab 2).]]

|3||Sep 15||colspan="2" align="center"|Linaro Connect 2014 - No classes scheduled - Prepare your [[#Week 3|presentation on assembly language code]]||[[#Week 3 Deliverables|Assembly language presentation]] ready for presentation next Tuesday (TBASeptember 23).

|4||Sept 22||Introduction to [[#Tuesday (Sep 23)|Assembly Languagelanguage presentations & Assembly Basics]]||Hello World - Compile a basic C program and analyze the resultant binary[[#Friday (Sep 26)|Assembly language presentations, continued]]||[[#Week 4 Deliverables|Set up a Fedora system / Blog on binary analysis (Lab 2)the content of your presentation]]

|5||Sep 29||Writing x86 [[#Tuesday (Sep 30)|Assembly Languagelab (Lab 3)]]||Writing Aarch64 Assembley Language[[#Friday (Oct 3)| Inline assembler and compiler optimizations / Potential Project Triage – Scan the potential project list from the Linaro Performance site]]||[[#Week 5 Deliverables|Blog post about writing in assembly language lab (Lab lab 3)and potential projects]]

|6||Oct 6||Lab 3 results, inline assembler, [[#Tuesday (Oct 7)|Guest Speaker: Jon "Maddog" Hall]]||[[#Friday (Oct 10)|Codebase analysis / Memory barriers and compiler optimizationsAtomics]]||Potential Project Analysis [[#Week 6 Deliverables|Analyze the platform- Analyzing a codebase for assembler and non-portable specific code||Blog post about your selected projectsin 3 packages.]]

 |7||Oct 13||Memory Barriers and Atomics[#Tuesday (Oct 15)|[[#Tuesday (Oct 14)|Group hack session Architecture- Portingspecific Code - Why?]]||Identify the assembler in [[#Friday (Oct 17)|Compiler Intrinsics and Picking your projects Package]]||[[#Week 7 Deliverables|Pick your package and contact your upstream communitiesblog about it.]]

|8||Oct 27||Architecture-specific [[#Tuesday (Oct 28)|Working with the Code for Performance]]||[[#Friday (Oct 31)|Group hack session - Porting||Blog about your progress.|- |9||Nov 3||Portability - Removing platform-specific codeProfiling]]||Group hack session - Portability|[[#Week 8 Deliverables|Blog about your progress.]]

|89||Nov 103||Project Work[[#Tuesday (Nov 4)|Profiling review]]||Project Work[[#Friday (Nov 11)|Group hack session]]|Get code into review and blog about it|[[#Week 9 Deliverables|Post baseline stats for your software.]]

|910||Nov 1710||Status Update[[#Tuesday (Nov 11)|Presentations]]||[[#Friday (Nov 14)|AArch64 on x86_64 / Hack session]]|Foundation Models|[[#Week 10 Deliverables|Install and Test With Foundation Model and blog Blog about ityour project status - 1st project marks.]]

|1011||Nov 2417||Profiling[[#Tuesday (Nov 18)|Discussion and hack session]]||Baseline Profiling[[#Friday (Nov 21)|Discussion and hack session: Commercial vs. Technical Reality]]|Post baseline stats for |[[#Week 11 Deliverables|Upstream your software.work and blog about it]]

|1112||Nov 1724||Optimizing Code[[#Tuesday (Nov 25)|Project Update Presentations]]|Group |[[#Friday (Nov 28)|Discussion and hack - Profiling and optimizingsession]]||[[#Week 12 Deliverables|Post a code review updateBlog about your project status - 2nd project marks.]]

|1213||Nov 24Dec 1||Using complier optimizations||Project Work||Post a code review update.|- [[#Tuesday (Dec 2)|13Discussion and Hack Session]]||[[#Friday (Dec 1||Final Presentations|5)|Final PresentationsDiscussion and Hack Session]]||Code accepted upstream. Blog about it!

|Communication||align="right"|20%||<strike>September 30</strike>, <strike>October 31</strike>, November 21, December 10

|Project work||align="right"|60%||October 10<strike>November 11</strike> (15%), November 2125 (20%), December 10(25%)

=== Thursday Friday (Sep 45) ===

* ==== Introduction to the Problem==== ** Most software is written in a '''high-level language''' which can be compiled into [[Machine Language|machine code]] for a specific architecture. However, there is a lot of existing code that contains some architecture-specific code fragments written in [[Assembly Language]] (or, in some cases, machine-specific high-level code).** Reasons for writing code in Assembly Langauge include:*** Performance*** [[Atomic Operation|Atomic Operations]]*** Direct access to hardware features, e.g., CPUID registers** Most of the historical reasons for including assembler are no longer valid. Modern compilers can out-perform most hand-optimized assembly code, atomic operations can be handled by libraries or [[Compiler Intrinsics|compiler intrinsics]], and most hardware access should be performed through the operating system or appropriate libraries.** A new architecture has appeared: Aarch64, which is part of [http://www.arm.com/products/processors/instruction-set-architectures/armv8-architecture.php ARMv8]. This is the first new [[Computer Architecture|computer architecture]] to appear in several years(at least, the first mainstream computer architecture).** There are over 1400 software packages/modules present in GNU Linux systems which contain architecture-specific [[Assembly Language|assembly language code]]or have other portability issues. Most of these packages cannot be built on Aarch64 systems without modification.* ==== Course Projects ==== In this course, you will:*# Select two software packages from a list compiled by Steve Macintyre of Linaro. Each of the packages on this list contains assembly language code which is platform-specific.*# Prepare a fix/patch for the software so that it will run on 64-bit ARM systems (aarch64). This may be done at either of two levels:*## Port - Add additional assembly language code for aarch64 (basic solution).*## Make Portable - Remove architecture-specific code, replacing it with compiler intrinsics or high-level code so that the software will successfully build on multiple platforms.*# Benchmark - Prove that your changes do not cause a performance regression on existing platforms, and that (ideally) it improves performance.*# Upstream your Code - Submitting your code to the upstream (originating) software project so that it can be incorporated into future versions of the software. This will involve going through a code review to ensure that your code is compatible with and acceptable to the upstream community. ==== General Course Information ==== * Course resources are linked from the CDOT wiki, starting at http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/SPO600 (Quick find: This page will usually be Google's top result for a search on "SPO600").* Coursework is submitted by blogging.* Quizzes will be short (1 page) and will be held without announcement at any time. Your lowest three quiz scores will not be counted, so do not worry if you miss one or two.* Course marks (see Weekly Schedule for dates):** 60% - Project Deliverables** 20% - Communication (Blog and Wiki writing)** 20% - Labs and Quizzes (10% labs - completed/not completed; 10% for quizzes - lowest 3 scores not counted)* All classes will be held in an [[Active Learning Classroom]] -- you are encouraged to bring your own laptop to class. If you do not have a laptop, consider signing one out of the Learning Commons for class, or using a smartphone with an HDMI adapter.* For more course information, refer to the SPO600 Weekly Schedule (this page), the [http://www.senecacollege.ca/ssos/findWithoutSemester/spo600/sict Course Outline], and [[SPO600 Course Policies]].<!-- * Introduction to the [http://linaro.org Linaro] Code Porting/Optimization project.-->

* Course details:** Course resources are linked from the CDOT wiki, starting at http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/SPO600 (Quick find: This page will usually be Google's top result for a search on "SPO600").** Coursework is submitted by blogging.** Quizzes will be short (1 page) and will be held without announcement at any time. Your lowest three quiz scores will not be counted, so do not worry if you miss one or two.==== Discussion of how open source communities work ====** Course marks:*** 60% - Project Deliverables*** 20% - Communication (Blog and Wiki writing)*** 20% - Labs and Quizzes** Friday classes will be held in an "Active Learning Classroom". You are encouraged to bring your own laptop to these classes.** For more course information, refer to Background for the [[SPO600 Weekly Schedule Code Review Lab|Code Review Lab (this pageLab 1), the [http://www.senecacollege.ca/ssos/findWithoutSemester/spo600/sict Course Outline], and [[SPO600 Course Policies]]which is homework due Week 2).

# Set up your [[SPO600 Communication Tools|Set ]] - in particular, set up a blog and add it to [http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/~chris.tyler/planet/ Planet CDOT] (via the [[Planet CDOTFeed List]]).# Add yourself to the [[Winter Fall 2014 SPO600 Participants]] page (leave the projects columns blank).# Generate a [[SSH#Using_Public_Keys_with_SSH|pair of keys]] for [[SSH]] and email the public key to your professor.

{{Admon/tip|Bring Your Laptop|Classes are held in a Active Learning Classroom. If you have a laptop or other device with a VGA or HDMI output (such as a smartphone!) please feel free to bring it.}}* Discussion of how open source communities work* [[SPO600 Code Review LabComputer Architecture]]* Start thinking about your overview (see also the [[SPO600 Host Setup:Category:Computer Architecture|Computer Architecture Category]])

=== Thursday Friday (Sep 1112) ===* {{Admon/tip|Bring Your Laptop|Classes are held in a [[Computer ArchitectureActive Learning Classroom]] . If you have a laptop or other device with a VGA or HDMI output (see also such as a smartphone!) please bring it. You'll need either a local linux environment or an SSH client -- which is built-in to Linux, Mac, and Chromebook systems, and readily available for Windows, Android, and iOS devices.}}* Perform the [[:Category:Computer ArchitectureSPO600 Compiled C Lab|Computer Architecture CategoryCompiled C Lab (Lab 2)]])in groups

* Blog Complete and blog your conclusion to the [[SPO600 Code Review Lab|Code Review Lab (Lab 1)]].* Blog your conclusion to the [[SPO600 Host SetupSPO600_Compiled_C_Lab|Set up a Fedora 20 systemCompiled C Lab (Lab 2)]]

<!== Week 3 ==This week [[User:Chris Tyler|your professor]] is at [https://www.linaro.org/connect/lcu/lcu14/ Linaro Connect], an engineering conference run by [http://www.linaro.org Linaro] -a distributed not-for-profit collaborative technology company focused on Linux on ARM. You can [https://www.linaro.org/connect/lcu/lcu14/remote/ participate remotely] and may find some of the sessions interesting.

=== Friday (Jan 17) Week 3 Deliverables ===* Be prepared to give your [[Fall 2014 SPO600 Compiled C LabAssembly Language Presentation|presentation]]on Tuesday of next week (September 23).

== Deliverables Week 4 ==* Blog your conclusion to the [[SPO600 Compiled C Lab]]

== Week 3 = Friday (Sep 26) ===* Remainder of the [[Fall 2014 SPO600 Assembly Language Presentation|presentations about an assembly language topic]]* [[Assembler Basics|Introduction to assembly language]]* Writing x86_64 and aarch64 code in the [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembly language lab (Lab 3)]]

=== Tuesday (Jan 21) Week 4 Deliverables ===* Blog your [[Assembler BasicsFall 2014 SPO600 Assembly Language Presentation|presentation]]

==Week 5 = Friday (Jan 24) ===* Background information: [[SPO600 aarch64 QEMU on Ireland]]* [[SPO600 Assembler Lab]]

=== Week 3 Deliverables Tuesday (Sep 30) ===* Blog your conclusion to the [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|Assembler Lab]]

== Week 4 = Friday (Oct 3) ===

The [http://performance.linaro.org/ Linaro Performance Challenge] is a project initiated by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Hall_%28programmer%29 Jon "Maddog" Hall] and [http://www.linaro.org Linaro] to port or make portable open source software packages which contain platform-specific code and which may not build on the new Aarch64 architecture. (There are two videos about the challenge, both of which are from late 2013 while the program was being finalized: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo1dBB3tke8 One of an interview with Maddog and Steve Macintyre], and [http://people.linaro.org/linaro-connect/lcu13/videos/10-28-Monday/LCU13%20ARM%20Performance%20Optimizations.mp4 the other of a Linaro Connect presentation by Maddog]). The [http://performance.linaro.org/find/ list of packages] for this project was originally developed by the UK Debian developer Steve Macintyre, who works for Linaro. His focus in developing that list was to find packages that contained assembly language code for x86 (or other platforms) and which did not have assembly language code for ARM, especially Aarch64. As a result, the list includes many false-positives: there are many packages on there that can successfully build on ARM, either due to C work-arounds for the missing assembly code, or conditional compilation of the assembly code, or recent updates to the software, or other reasons. In this class, we're going to start to triage this list by analyzing which packages exist in the Fedora package set and which have been successfully built for the aarch64 architecture. The list has been processed with these steps:# Grab the list of packages from the Linaro Performance Challenge site.# Find out the corresponding names of the packages in the Fedora package set. Most of these will be the same as in the list, but some may be different.# Find out which packages have not been built for Fedora on aarch64# Divide the resulting list up between the members of the class for further analysis '''Please see the [[Fall 2014 SPO600 Packages by Participant]] and perform the steps listed there.''' {{Admon/tip|Participating in the Linaro Performance Challenge|You are invited to participate in the [http://performance.linaro.org Linaro Performance Challenge] directly, utilizing the work you are doing in the SPO600 course. Doing so may enable you to receive a prize for participation and the chance to win a trip to a Linaro Connect conference. In order to participate in the Challenge, you will need to comply with the technical requirements and rules of the Challenge.<br/><br/>Your participation in this course, and the mark you receive in this course, are independent of your participation in the Linaro Performance Challenge.<br/><br/>In other words: Linaro and Seneca are distinct entities, and although you can participate in both the Challenge and SPO600 with the same project, Seneca assumes no responsibility for your interaction with Linaro, and vice-versa.}} === Week 5 Deliverables ===* Blog about the [[SPO600 Assembler Lab|assembler lab (Lab 3)]].* Do the tasks assigned on the [[Fall 2014 SPO600 Packages by Participant]] page, and blog about it. == Week 6 == === Tuesday (Oct 7) === Jon "Maddog" Hall will be joining us for a remote talk and Q&A via Google Hangout. === Friday (Jan 31Oct 10) ===

* In groups, we'll be analyzing software pacakges from the [[Codebase Analysis LabFall 2014 SPO600 Packages by Participant|Packages by Participant]]list to find the platform-specific code and build instructions.

=== Week 4 6 Deliverables ===

* '''Reminder:''' Week 1Pick three additional packages (not the ones done in class) from your section of the [[Fall 2014 SPO600 Packages by Participant|Packages by Participant]] list and find the platform-3 blog posts are due for marking specific code (or build instructions). Figure out what that code does, and document that on Friday, January 31the list page.* Blog about your results and your reflections on the [[Codebase Analysis Lab]]task.

== Week 5 7 ==

=== Tuesday (Feb 4Oct 14) ===

Platform-Discussion of some of the reasons that platform specific (usually assembly language) code is often utilized for '''Memory Barriers''' and '''Atomics Operations'''.used in software

** [http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp?topic=/com.arm.doc.genc010197a/index.html ARMv8 Instruction Set Architecture Manual] (ARM InfoCentre registration required) - See the section on Acquire/Release and Load/Store, especially Load/Store Exclusive (e.g., LDREX)

Select a project from the [[Winter 2014 SPO600 Software List]] and perform these steps:# Edit that page to put your name in the "Claimed by" column.# Investigate the package to determine:#* If the current version has been built for ARM === Friday (e.g., exists in the Fedora aarch64 port - fastest way to test is to use 'yum' inside the arm64 emulation environment on IrelandOct 17)#* What the platform-specific code in the software does#* Whether portable work-arounds exist#* The need for an aarch64 port or for platform-specific code elimination#* Opportunities for optimization#* The amount of work involved in porting and optimizing, and your skills for performing that work# Based on the result of your investigation, decide on your interest in the project.#* If you wish to choose this project for yourself, place it on your row in the [[Winter 2014 SPO600 Participants|Participants]] page.#* If you do not wish to choose this project, remove your name from the "Claimed by" column in the [[Winter 2014 SPO600 Software List|Software List]] page.# Repeat until you have two packages.===

{{Admon/note|Overload|It is strongly recommended that * [[Compiler Intrinsics]]** The use of compiler intrinsics (e.g., those in gcc, or in another compiler) locks you choose two projects with a total scope sum into the use of 0-1that specific compiler (or another that supports the exact same intrinsics), but it provides platform portability. If you wist It is better to try a higher use language features (e.g., C11 or lower sumC++11 atomic and acquire/release syntax) where possible, but since that is often not possible, or the use of compiler intrinsics is more or less maintainable than two projectsinline assembly.** GCC provides intrinsics (built-in functions) for atomic operations, please talk to as documented in the GCC manual:*** [http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.9.1/gcc/_005f_005fsync-Builtins.html#_005f_005fsync-Builtins Legacy __sync Built-in Functions for Atomic Memory Access]*** [http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.9.1/gcc/_005f_005fatomic-Builtins.html#_005f_005fatomic-Builtins Built-in functions for memory model aware atomic operations]** The Fedora project has some guidelines/recommendations for the use of these GCC builtins:*** http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM/GCCBuiltInAtomicOperations* Select your project(s):** Criteria:**# Interest**# Scope**# Fit between your professorskills and project needs**# Upstream status (e.g.}}, dead project)

* Blog about your two selected projects, including your detailed initial analysis of them.** You may want to break this into a couple of posts - e.g., post about your first package while you're working on your second.** Feel free to also blog about why you did ''Over reading week:'not''' choose particular # Contact the upstream communities for the packages, too. == Week 6 == === Tuesday (Feb 11) === * Architectureyou have selected --specific code for Performance** Sometimes assembler is used in so that they know that you are working on the package and to open a C/C++ program channel of communication for performance. However, modern versions of C/C++ your forthcoming patches (such as C++11) and recent compilers provide portable ways of accessing high-performance processor capabilities, such as Single Instruction/Multiple Data (SIMD) instructions (called "marketing names" such as SSE, Neon, MMX, 3DNowor benchmarks, or AltaVec on various processorsother results).** Linaro enginener Matthew Gretton-Dann gave # Formulate a good presentation on [http://www.linaro.org/linaro-blog/2013/09/20/introduction-to-porting-and-optimising-code/ Porting and Optimizing Code] for aarch64. The vectorization portion, beginning at 28:10, provides a good introduction to SIMD and autovectorization using GCC on aarch64 (Note that the earlier portion of the presentation includes good information about Atomics).*** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epzYErIIx0Y YouTube Video] direct link*** [http://www.linaro.org/assets/common/campus-party-presentation-Sept_2013.pdf Slides] direct link** Note work plan that will conclude with landing your software changes in the presentation above, Matthew takes upstream software before the code beyond portability without straying into assembler (e.g., using compiler-specific, architecture-specific intrinsics). It is possible to achieve almost all end of the performance gains without becoming arch-specific, and most of those can be attained without becoming compiler-specific as wellcourse.* For full details on the SIMD instructions in aarch64, refer to the [http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp?topic=/com.arm.doc.genc010197a/index.html ARMv8 Instruction Set Overview], particularly section 5.7. === Week 6 Deliverables ===* Complete your analysis of your two selected software projects (if you haven't already) - see [[#Week 5|Week 5]]. Blog in detail about your findings.* Identify the upstream communities that develop work plan and maintain the software what you have selected need to work on. Figure out how they are structured, how they communicate, how code is maintained, and how patches are accepted. Introduce yourself investigate/learn in order to each of the two communities (one for each of the two software projects you have selected). Blog about complete your findingsproject. == Week 7 ==* Project Work

== Week 9 ===== Tuesday (March 11Oct 28) ===* Status updates* Update from Linaro Connect* Discussion of useful tools** screen** time

=== Friday (March 14) ===* Comparison of Emulation** QEMU** Fast Model and Foundation Model* Install and configure Working with the Foundation ModelCode** [[:fedora:Architectures/ARM/AArch64/QuickStart|Fedora AArch64 Quick Start]]** [http://www.linaro.org/engineering/engineering-projects/armv8 Linaro Foundation Model Instructions]Working with GIT* Baseline BenchmarkingWorking with other version control systems

==== Resources ====* Foundation Model** [http://www.arm.com/products/tools/models/fast-models/ ARM Fast Models] - Note that "fast" here refers to Looking at How Distributions Package the modelling approach, not execution speed!* BenchmarkingCode** [http://www.tokutek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130424-percona-live-benchmarking.pdf Benchmarking Talk by Tim Callaghan]Using fedpkg

=== Week 9 Deliverables Friday (Oct 31) ===* Set up the Foundation Model* Upstream your proposed code changes* Blog about your work == Week 10 ==Benchmarking and Profiling

** Build with profiling enabled (use the option <code>-pg</code>with both gcc and ld)

=== Week 8 Deliverables ===* Blog about your progress connecting with the communities associated with your projects and working with the code. == Week 9 ===== Tuesday (Nov 4) ==* Profiling/baseline benchmarking review* Hacking session === Friday (March 21Nov 7) ===* Gather Hacking session === Week 9 Deliverables ===* Blog about your baseline statistics for benchmarking/profiling. == Week 10 ===== Tuesday (Nov 11) ===* Presentation on your softwareproject status === Friday (Nov 14) ===* Running AArch64 code on x86** Foundation models** [[AArch64 QEMU User Space Emulation]]

* Blog about your baseline benchmark project status  == Week 11 ===== Tuesday (Nov 18) ===* Discussion and hack session** Blog post about upstreaming: [https://www.linaro.org/blog/core-dump/working-upstream/ What do we mean by working upstream: A long-term contributor's view] === Friday (Nov 21) ===* Discussion and hack session === Week 11 Deliverables ===* Upstream your changes/test results/documentation* Blog about your work* '''Note: Blogs will be marked as of Nov 21 11:59 pm''' == Week 12 ===== Tuesday (Nov 25) ===* Project update presentations === Friday (Nov 28) ===* Discussion and hack session: ''Commercial vs. Technical Reality'' == Week 13 == === Tuesday (Dec 2) ===* Discussion and hack session === Friday (Dec 5) ===* Wrap--up session* '''Remember: Final project submissions via blog are due 11:59 pm December 10.'''  <BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>