This IBM® Redbooks® publication is one in a series of IBM books written specifically for the IBM System Blue Gene® supercomputer, Blue Gene/Q®, which is the third generation of massively parallel supercomputers from IBM in the Blue Gene series. This document provides an overview of the application development environment for the Blue Gene/Q system. It describes the requirements to develop applications on this high-performance supercomputer.

This book explains the unique Blue Gene/Q programming environment. This book does not provide detailed descriptions of the technologies that are commonly used in the supercomputing industry, such as Message Passing Interface (MPI) and Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP). References to more detailed information about programming and technology are provided.

This document assumes that readers have a strong background in high-performance computing (HPC) programming. The high-level programming languages that are used throughout this book are C/C++ and Fortran95. For more information about the Blue Gene/Q system, see “IBM Redbooks” on page 159.

This book was produced by a team working at the International Technical Support Organization (ITSO), Rochester Center.

Megan Gilge is a Technical Writer in the IBM International Technical Support Organization. Before joining the ITSO one year ago, Megan was an Information Developer in the IBM Semiconductor Solutions and User Technologies areas. Megan holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Michigan Technological University.

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