The geek-chic OpenMP logo.
This is a brief intro to using OpenMP for parallel programming (with what I’ve discovered about it so far). We’ll implement a Mandelbrot Set renderer that runs multicore, and throw in a couple aside-goodies as well (basic supersampling and Mandelbrot continuous coloring).
First, let’s talk parallel programming. The basic idea here is that we have some task that can be split up into parts, and we hand off each of these parts to different CPUs.
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One of the "copies" of the Mandlebrot Set floating somewhere around its outside edge.
And now for something completely different! The Mandelbrot Set! This is the basis for all those paisley computer fractal pictures we see everywhere, especially when they were popular in the 1990s. For your viewing pleasure, a Mandlebrot explorer app is included, with (Flash) source, right down there in this blog post! Woo!
In this article, I’m going to talk about how the images are generated, and use that as an example of something I find I do quite commonly: remapping number ranges. High excitement, there.
I do apologize in advance that this post is a bit mathy. Now, I was never particularly good with math, so I figure that if I’m grasping it, it must be pretty straightforward (the actual manipulations never get beyond elementary algebra.) But it’s not as easy reading as, say, Captain Blood. If you don’t care for math, I encourage you to just jump, guilt-free, down to the pseudocode and the app! Enjoy!
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