6533b872fe1ef96bd12d36c4

RESEARCH PRODUCT

SAUCE: A Web-Based Automated Assessment Tool for Teaching Parallel Programming

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description

Many curricula for undergraduate studies in computer science provide a lecture on the fundamentals of parallel programming like multi-threaded computation on shared memory architectures using POSIX threads or OpenMP. The complex structure of parallel programs can be challenging, especially for inexperienced students. Thus, there is a latent need for software supporting the learning process. Subsequent lectures may cover more advanced parallelization techniques such as the Message Passing Interface (MPI) and the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) languages. Unfortunately, the majority of students cannot easily access MPI clusters or modern hardware accelerators in order to effectively develop parallel programming skills. To overcome this, we present an interactive tool to aid both educators and students in the learning process. This paper describes the “System for AUtomated Code Evaluation” (SAUCE), a web-based open source (available under the AGPL-3.0 license at https://github.com/moschlar/SAUCE) application for programming assignment evaluation and elaborates on its features specifically designed for the teaching of parallel programming. This tool enables educators to provide the required programming environments with a low barrier to entry since it is usable with just a web browser. SAUCE allows for immediate feedback and thus can be used interactively in class room settings.