A Methodology Towards Automatic Performance Analysis of Parallel Applications

Tuning and debugging the performance of parallel applications is an iterative process consisting of several steps dealing with identification and localization of inefficiencies, repair, and verification of the achieved performance. In this paper, we address the analysis of the performance of parallel applications from a methodological viewpoint with the aim of identifying and localizing inefficiencies. Our methodology is based on performance metrics and criteria that highlight the properties of the applications and the load imbalance and dissimilarities in the behavior of the processors. A few case studies illustrate the application of the methodology.